Tokyo, Japan, August 25, 2021: China dominated on the first day of wheelchair fencing at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, sweeping all four gold medals in the sabre events at the Makuhari Messe on Wednesday, August 25.
On a historic night for wheelchair fencing, with the women’s sabre A and B categories debuting at the Paralympics, China’s Bian Jing and Tan Shumei became the first two Paralympic champions in women’s A and B categories, respectively.
In the men’s category A, Li Hao, 26, had the upper hand on compatriot and seven-time Paralympic medallist Tian Jianquan in the semi-final, then went on to defeat the 22-year-old Artem Manko of Ukraine in the final for a surprise gold medal.
“Tian is my role model, he’s very experienced. I’ve been competing against him so many times but I’ve never beaten him,” Li said. “I didn’t expect this result at all. I think he had a lot of pressure on him from his performances in previous Games. I felt very relaxed, and maybe that’s why I won. But he is and will always be my role model.”
Feng Yanke became the newly crowned champion in the men's category B, helping China finish second in the medals table, behind Australia, at the end of the first day of competition.
“Because fencing originated in Europe, China started quite late. We have been learning from other countries to try our best to catch up with them, and even do better than them. This is our goal, this is what we’re aiming for,” Feng said.
