Junior fencer wins gold for Israel

Israeli fencer Vera Kanevski has won a gold medal in the women’s epee competition at the European Junior Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

The 17-year-old, who finished the 2016 Rio Olympics European qualification tournament in 10th place, while also finishing the World Junior Championships in fifth place, beat Ukraine’s Inna Brovko 15-13 in the final. She said: “I didn’t think this day would end like this, I’m happy that everything fell into place.”

Fellow Israelis Nikol Gavrielko finished in sixth place, with Yana Botvinik ending the competition in eighth.

National team coach Doron Levit said: “This was an amazing day for our team, there aren’t many teams in the world that can finish with three fencers in the top eight, especially with one of them winning the gold. I’m delighted with Vera’s amazing achievement and we are now focusing on the team event.”