It was an exceptional first day of competition for Canadian Wheelchair fencers at the 2018 IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Americas Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with Canadians taking home four medals including three gold and one silver.

Camille Chai (Montreal, QC) won the Women’s epee A event after dominating the competition all day long. She started off strong with four wins in poules, giving her a first place seeding into the elimination rounds. After defeating an American in the quarter-final by a score of 15-6, she won her semi-final bout against another American, 15-12. She dominated in the final defeating Brazilian De Oliveira 15-4. Chai’s gold medal in women’s epee A is her first International podium result.

Pierre Mainville (St. Colomban, QC) also had a great day in Men’s Sabre B. He was first after poules and defeated Brazilian Souza 15-6 in the semi-finals. In the final, Mainville fenced Guissone, another Brazilian, who he had defeated in the poule round, and came away with a win by the score of 15-12. Mainville’s gold medal in Men’s Sabre A represents a new Americas title for the veteran wheelchair fencer who is having an exceptional season.

Matthieu Hébert (Beauharnois, QC) won the Men’s Sabre A event by beating fellow Canadian Ryan Rousell (Saskatoon, SK) in the final. The fencers came out of poules in 1st and 2nd place respectively. Their paths through elimination went smoothly until they faced each other in the finals. With close scores throughout the start to the bout, Hebert eventually overtook Ryan by a score of 15-9, giving him gold and Rousell silver. The win represented Hebert’s first zone championship gold medal.

“With four medals on the first day, it was an excellent start of the Americas Championships,” stated High Performance Director Benjamin Manano.  “We must keep our momentum for the next two days.”

Men’s epee and Women’s Foil will be in action Saturday.

-30-