Ivan Zafirov from Sofia Club – Best FIE Ranking in Bulgaria

Ivan Zafirov demonstrated an enviable shape in his last two rounds of the World Cup. After directly qualifying for the 64th round in Bern, Ivan again demonstrated excellent form and made a strong performance at Legnano Italy.

Ivan fenced a strong group where he managed to take 4 wins. The possibility of a direct qualification in the 64th was a near miss, the first bout in which he led 2-0 to the Ukrainian Stankevich was interrupted due to a judge’s mistake. The game started at 10:58 pm instead of 11:00 and the result was re-initiated. This helped Stankiewicz to rethink his strategy and return to battle.

Ivan’s first direct elimination was against Italian Andrea Rousso – the bout was dramatic with many turnovers and constant disputes on the part of Rousso. Ivan came out with a 15-14 win. You can see the elimination here:

128ers Russo vs Zafirov 14 -15

Posted by Manfred von Richthoffen on Friday, November 17, 2017

Ivan’s other opponent was from France – for the 64th – GALLY Aymerick, only 20 years old, Amerik is 153th in the world rank list.

Amerik took advantage of 7 points under the constant instruction of the coach of the French team. Sadly, Ivan relied only on the experience and support of his colleagues and relatives. However, he managed to equalize for 10-10. The final result was 15-13 in favor of France. Ivan finished 76th and grabbed another 1 point from FIE, which ranked him on 241st place in the world rank list – making him number 1 in Bulgaria according to the FIE classification. See the meeting with Gali here:

64ers Zafirov BUL – Gally FRA legnano world cup 13-15

Posted by Manfred von Richthoffen on Friday, November 17, 2017

Zafirov continues to demonstrate an excellent form. We will be looking forward to his next World Cup tournaments. Victory over professional athletes who engage only in fencing demonstrates the undisputed talent of our athlete. Unfortunately, Ivan is full-time employee and trains in his spare time, like most fencers in Bulgaria. Ivan pays most of his competitions and has reached the level where coaching instructions are extremely important for his future results. We hope that the federation will support this talent and will organize his program along with his personal coach in future events.

At Legnano World Cup we met the two-time world champion Paolo Pitzo, who, of course, is only engaged in fencing and has a rank in the Italian army.

Our other competitors – Todor Boyadzhiev – 269 and Daniel James Alexander – 271

Here are some pictures from Legnano.

     

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