Wheelchair fencer Irma Khetsuriani wins silver in European tournament

Georgian female fencer Irma Khetsuriani has claimed a silver medal at the Wheelchair Fencing European Championship in Italy.

Khetsuriani defeated Anasatasia Kastsiuchkova of Belarus in the final of the competition, which began in Casale Monferrato town on May 17.

The Georgian competitor performed in the B category of the sabre discipline, involving around 200 fencers from 17 countries.

She defeated all six opponents in her group before moving on to the elimination rounds.

By overcoming Italian and Russian fencers in the quarterfinal and semi-final matches respectively, Khetsuriani reached the final of the European Championship. The final bout took place earlier today.

In this final Khetsuriani found herself against Kastsiuchkova – the Belarusian athlete she had defeated in the group stage with a score of 5-0.

However, the outcome of the final match ended differently as Khetsuriani succumbed to the Belarussian athlete 15-9.

With this result Khetsuriani took home the silver medal, finishing ahead of combined third-placed fencers from Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Khetsuriani won a gold medal at the Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in Montreal, Canada.

She also won two medals at fencing contests last year; Khetsuriani won the World Cup event in Paris, France in October and won silver at the World Championships contest in Hungary.

The European Championship stage in Casale Monferrato will end with matches in other fencing disciplines on May 22.