Wheelchair fencer Ye Ruyi won the last gold medal for Chinese delegation at Beijing Paralympic Games as he beat his compatriot Tian Jianquan in the men's individual sabre Category A final.
China stayed on top of the medal standings with 13 medals, including six gold, six silvers and one bronze. Chinese Hong Kong followed with three golds, two silvers and two bronzes. France booked the third place with one gold and one silver.
In the men's individual sabre Category A final, Ye Ruiyi, winner in the men's foil Category A, beat his compatriot Tian 15-14, also the winner in the men's epee Category A, to added a second gold in his pocket.
"I was not aggressive enough at first, and I lost control of the situation. Then I decided that I need to regain initiative and get rid of my apprehensions. After that I played much more decisively, and the effect was obvious." Ye said.
"It's a great honour to win the last gold for China. I'm so happy to have helped my homeland laugh to the last. China has done an amazing job at home at these Paralympic Games," he added.
"Actually I feel a bit loss that the Paralympics are over. I will be unaccustomed to the following couple of days without training and matches."
The 21-year-old Ye, world No. 7 in sabre Category A and a bronze medal winner at the 2007 World Cup, started the final slowly as he trailed Tian 3-8, but made strong recovery as he tied Tian at 12-12 with a striking confidence and style.
Tian, only 18-year-old, tried to resist Ye's challenge and tied him at 14-14, but let the victory slip away when Ye finished the competition with his last winning thrust.
"I learned a lot and gained a lot of experience.It's very helpful for my wheelchair fencing career. It's a good beginning," Tian said
"Ye is older than me, and when I came to the national team, he ever taught me fencing. We are like brothers. I respect him, and he is a real man," he added.
Decorated veteran Alberto Pellegrini, defending champion in this category, overcame Chan Wing-kin of Chinese Hong Kong to win the bronze.
"I seldom competed with Chinese before the Paralymics, and they made rapid progress in these years," said Pellegrini.
"I dedicated this medal to my 10-month-old son," he said.
In the Men's individual sabre Category B final, top world ranked Laurent Francois of France, beat Hui Charn-hung 15-9 with style, capping the only gold medal for Europe in this sport.
The 36-year-old Hui was the silver medalist in sabre Category B at Athens 2004. He was also a double gold medalist in foil events at Sydney 2000.
In the bronze medal match, Serhiy Shenkevych of Ukraine downed Marc-Andre Cratere of France 15-8.
The wheelchair fencing competition, slated for Sept.14-17 at the Beijing Paralympics, attracted 88 players from 19 countries and regions to compete in individual Categories A and B of men's foil, epee and sabre and women's foil and epee.
(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2008)