Gilliver retains wheelchair fencing world title

Britain's Piers Gilliver retained his epee category A title in style at the World Wheelchair Fencing Championships in Italy.

The 29-year-old Briton also won silver in Friday's sabre A final, after losing 15-13 to Ukraine's Artem Manko.

"Winning really means a huge amount," said Gilliver, who has been hampered by injury all season.

"It's been really tough and I've had to work as smart as I can to try to save the performance for these competitions.

"It was a disappointing result not to come away with gold in the sabre but luckily I managed to make up for it today.

"For me it solidifies that I really am in a good position for Paris now. I've been fencing for a long time, but the last couple of seasons have been my best so far and it's a really exciting place to be, and one I never thought I'd be in to be honest."

Britain's Dimitri Coutya won silver in the epee B event following a 15-10 final defeat to Chinese newcomer Benjun Qin.