Ryan Rousell (Asquith, SK) won bronze at the U23 Wheelchair Fencing World Championships in Men’s Individual Sabre A in Warsaw, Poland yesterday, stopping a Russian sweep of the podium and winning Canada’s first medal at a Wheelchair Fencing U23 World Championships.

Rousell defeated Russian Vadim Sccherbakov 15-12 to advance to the semi-finals. He then faced Viktor Dronov from Russia and lost 15-11 to take the bronze medal. Dronov went on to win gold over fellow Russian Maxim Shaburov by a score of 15-13.

Rousell competed in the Warsaw Senior World Cup as a warm up to the U23 World Championships along with Canadians Pierre Mainville (St-Colomban, QC), Mathieu Hebert (Beauharnois, QC) and Camille Chai (Montreal, QC).

Mainville had Canada’s best finish in the World Cup, finishing 11^th in Men’s Sabre B. Camille Chai finished 20^th in both Epee A and Sabre A, while Rousell was 25^th in Sabre A and 35^th in Senior Epee A. Hebert was 26^th in Epee A and 28^th in Sabre A. Canada was also able to field a men’s team in epee and sabre, finishing 10^th overall in both events.

The U23 Wheelchair Fencing World Championships continue to July 5^th with Rousell taking part in the Men’s Epee A competition.

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