The 17-year-old Junior Foilist David Sosnov reached the last eight at the Senior Foil World Cup event in Paris on Saturday 13th January, a week after his silver in the Junior event in Udine.
For a Junior to reach the last eight in a Senior World Cup, in his first season, and at the prestigious Paris event, is a genuinely extraordinary achievement – even given the history of British Men’s Foil. It took the current Individual Foil World Champion, Tommasso Marini, to stop his run.
Sosnov’s coach Ziemek, said: “A top eight result in a Senior World Cup during the Olympic qualification period by 17-year old David Sosnov indicates that our David is on the pathway for Olympic Gold.”
“David is in a very dynamic developing phase and he showed impressive levels of tactical adaptability, technical versatility and psychological resilience,” added Ziemek.
“It was an incredible experience to compete at an event as exceptional as Paris. It was my first time passing through the preliminary stages so I really was satisfied after the first day to just be there,” said David.
“On day two I started the day well with a French fencer, Bibard, whom I managed to beat 15-9, and my second fight of the day (L32) was against a tough Japanese opponent with a unique style.
“My L16 fight was against the world no. 3, Mohamed Hamza from Egypt. I was quite unsure how to approach the fight against a fencer of his stature but I managed to get an early lead and keep it until a nerve-wracking 15-14 win!”
“My final fight was against the current world champion, Tommasso Marini. I found my style to be difficult against his and I was beaten 15-4 in the end, but overall I’m very pleased and proud of my performance today.”
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