China’s Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medallist and world champion Saichun Zhong bagged his latest World Cup gold in the men’s foil category A.  

In the final Zhong faced an emerging fencer – France’s Quentin Fernandez-Anssoux – who was competing in his first World Cup final and therefore enjoying his best-ever finish. 

Whilst 22-year-old Fernandez-Anssoux was clearly disappointed not to have gained the ultimate prize, he can be encouraged by his performance in a high-quality field. Zhong meanwhile once again showed his ability to see-off challenges from new and experienced fencers alike. 

Italy’s Luca Platania Parisi secured his second podium finish of 2026 with bronze. China’s Yang Chen joined him in third, managing a top three result on his season debut. 

The women’s epee category A final was a repeat of the gold medal match from the Iksan 2025 World Championships. Chinese teammates Zou Xufeng and Yuandong Chen faced-off in a long, tense match which saw Chen penalised multiple times for lifting her foot from her footplate. Ultimately that gave Zou the edge and meant she could achieve a five-point gap, this time taking the win to reverse the result from Iksan. 

Great Britain’s Gemma Collis landed on her second podium of 2026 with bronze, alongside Poland’s Marta Fidrych with her first. 

Thailand’s Chitiphat Charoenta delivered an upset in the semi-final of the men’s foil category B, just edging China’s multiple Paralympic medallist and one of Para fencing’s most decorated athletes to a place in the final. 

But beating Great Britain’s reigning Paralympic champion Dimitri Coutya to gold proved a step too far for Charoenta once more. Coutya was riding high after claiming victory in the epee against the Thai fencer 24 hours before and carried that momentum forward to the top of the podium. 

Fan Li Zhu shared third place with teammate Feng. 

Thailand’s Paralympic champion Saysunee Jana ended her individual campaign with two golds overall after winning the women’s epee category B to add to her win in foil from earlier in the week. 

Her final opponent, Japan’s Anri Sakurai, can also be pleased with her silver medal which is her first podium finish of 2026 in her season opener. 

Italy’s Sofia Brunati secured her maiden medal in epee with bronze whilst Poland’s Karolina Strawinska grabbed her second of the week to follow-on from the sabre. 

A final highlight of Friday was the debut of Kenya in the women’s epee, following on from their teammate from Thursday’s men’s epee. Stella Tivoy and Esther Mueni joined George Kilonza in making history by becoming their country’s first Para fencers to compete in the international stage. 

The Bradenton 2026 Para Fencing World Cup will reach an exciting conclusion on Saturday with no less than three team events in new formats. Fencers will go for gold as mixed teams of four, in a dynamic 20-point format in epee, foil and sabre.