Richmond fencer Dylan French has earned a bronze medal in epee at the Cadet World Championships in Plodiv, Bulgaria.
“Dylan had a great performance, and we’re extremely proud of what he accomplished today,” said Igor Gantsevich, national team manager at these World Championships.
The bronze medal showing has also earned French a berth in this summer’s Youth Olympic Games in Beijing. He regularly trains at the Dynamo Fencing in Richmond under club founder and Igor’s father Victor Gantsevich.
After a series of five victories and one defeat in the qualifying rounds Friday, the 16 year-old epeeist made his way to the elimination rounds, facing Venezuela’s Carlos Mendoza and Israel’s Theo Kletz. Back in action Saturday for the round of 32, he bettered Japan’s Akira Komata 15-7, then went on to beat Egypt’s Ahmed El Sayen in the round of 16.
“The Egyptian athlete will be one to watch in future years,” commented Gantsevich. “He’s very strong and played very well today against Dylan. It was a tight match.”
In the quarter finals, French was paired against Sweden’s Linus Islas Flygare and came out the winner with a final score of 15-14. Trailing behind in 7-4 at the beginning of the second bout, French was still behind slightly by the start of the third. The Canadian epeeist rallied back to a score of 13-13, while a double touch brought the two adversaries to 14-14. In the end, it was French who scored the final and decisive point.
“The Swedish fencer is one of several really strong athletes at this competition. Dylan focused all his energy to beat him,” analyzed Igor Gantsevich
In the semi-finals, American Justin Yoo put an end to French’s progress in a hotly contested match that ended with a score of 15-12.
“Dylan was as good as the American fencer; I honestly believe that this match was simply a case of having just a few less chances. A single touch would have totally changed the outcome,” offered Gantsevich.
The reigning provincial senior champion in epee and foil was coming off a victory in the men’s foil event at the Pan-American Championships in Guatemala in February. He has medalled 14 times at Nationals and was 13th at last year’s Cadet Worlds in Croatia.
The Grade 11 student attends Magee secondary in Vancouver where he is part of the school’s SpArts program which provides a flexible scheduled for elite athletes and artists. This allows French to train as much as 35 hours per week and attend international competitions while completing a full course load.
