Corporal Hugues Boisvert-Simard had a great day Monday, taking home a bronze medal in Men’s Individual Epee at the 6^th Military World Games CAF which are underway in Mungyeong, South Korea. The bronze medal was his second medal at an International Games this year. Boisvert-Simard won a bronze medal at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto in July.

Boisvert-Simard, who had the honour of carrying the Canadian flag into the stadium during the Opening Ceremonies, was undefeated in the first round, which included wins against Poland’s Radoslaw Zawrotniak, Korean Sang Jin Kim and Italian Andrea Vallosio.

Ranked 6th going into the direct elimination tableau, Boisvert-Simard easily defeated his first opponent, Mohamed Alqattan from Bahrain, in the round of 32s by a score of 15-7. His next match was much more challenging as he was up against Germany’s Stefan Rein, who had just defeated Canadian Jean Lelion 6-6 on priority.  Leading 7-6 after the first period, Boisvert-Simard was able to pull ahead for an 11-8 lead in the second period. Rein came back to tie the score at 12-12, but Boisvert-Simard pulled ahead late in the second period to take a 15-12 win.

In the quarterfinals, Boisvert-Simard’s next opponent was the third ranked Jesus Lugones from Argentina. This was a close match early on with Boisvert-Simard holding a slim 5-4 lead at the end of the first period. Boisvert-Simard eventually proved to be too strong for the Argentinian and he pulled away for an eventual 15-9 win to put him into the medal round.

The semi-final match against Daniel Jerent of France, currently ranked 8^th in the world, was Boisvert-Simard’s only loss of the day, as the Frenchman won 15-6, but his result secured Canada’s first medal at the 6th Military World Games.

“Hugues was very motivated to win a medal at a second international games in the same year and this was evident in the intensity with which he fenced today,” said David Howes, CFF National Coach who is assisting Head Coach Patricia Howes at these Games.  “He was very focused and determined to reach the podium in a strong field of athletes that included a large number of top-ranked fencers. This result following his medal at Pan-Am Games will be a huge boost to his confidence as he prepares for the first World Cup of the season later this month.”

Boisvert-Simard and fellow national team member Jean Lelion will team up with Clement Feminias-Metivet in team competition on October 7th.

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