Fencer Sandro Bazadze takes bronze at Montreal Grand Prix

Georgia's European Fencing Championships medal-winning fencer Sandro Bazadze kicked off the new year by finishing on the podium at the Montreal Grand Prix event that finished in the Canadian city on the weekend.

The athlete, winner of gold medal for individual sabre contest among men in Plovdiv in September, shared the third step of the finishing classification in Montreal with Luigi Samele of Italy.

The pair finished behind Luca Curatoli, another Italian competing for honours at the event, with France's Bolade Apithy crowned the winner of the sabre section.

Apithy scored the result with 64 points under his belt, while Curatoli finished with 52. Bazadze and Samele earned 40 points each and finished 12 points ahead of their nearest contender.

Earlier in the semifinals the Georgian faced Curatoli and conceded defeat with a score 15-9. The fixture followed Bazadze's wins over South Korea's Sanguk Oh and Csanad Gemesi of Hungary.

Bazadze had been ranked ninth in the international classification ahead of the competition that ran in Montreal between January 10-12.