Persistence paid off for ZFW’s David Sosnov, who won under-15 gold at the Challenge Wratislavia International in Poland.

Sosnor had won silver and bronze in previous years, but competing for the last time at the competition in Wroclaw, this year’s victory was the sweetest.

“It feels amazing to have won it on my last year [there is an age cap] and I’m grateful to everyone who helped prepare me to compete. It’s a great tournament with an amazing atmosphere and I’m sad to not be able to go again,” said Sosnov.

Sosnov had a strong run through the tableau after being ranked top among 56 competitors after the poules round.

That result put him directly through to the round of 32, where he defeated Paul Tippmer of Germany (15-1) and Sosnov then faced Polish competitor Maksym Kowalski in the last 16, winning 15-3.

He went on to defeat Poland's Tomasz Bartoszek (15-7) and Tymon Kowalski (15-0) and in the gold-medal match, beat Mattia Rubin of Hungary by a 15-4 scoreline.

“David’s performance in Poland was truly outstanding and it showed that his development is well on track,” said ZFW founder and head coach Ziemek Wojciechowski.

“His hard work during lockdowns paid off. I'm so glad he experienced international competition as there were no events in UK.”

The competition was held under Covid-19 protocols and was one of the first for up-and-coming fencers after international bouting was stalled by the pandemic.

A total of 56 fencers checked in for the under-15 boys’ foil on the day and seven entries scratched. Sosnov was the only British competitor among fencers from a handful of other nations.

ZFW’s Amelie Tsang also competed in Wroclaw, finishing seventh among girls in the under-15 foil, having just finished school exams.

“It was all a sudden shock to get back into competing,” said Tsang, who was ranked fourth after the poules and advanced directly into the 32 round, where she defeated Serbia’s Nada Radlovacki 15-3.

Tsang overcame Malgorzata Plaza of Poland 15-12, but her competition ended in the last-eight when she went out to eventual winner Lucrezia Monti of Italy by a score of 15-13.

*ZFW is run by Olympic Coach Ziemek Wojciechowski with a team of dedicated experts. The North London club aims to boost the standard of fencing in Britain by providing a centre of excellence for high-performance fencers training for Olympic, international and national teams. It also provides a learning programme. For further details, see https://www.zfw-fencing.co.uk.