WATCH: Fencers aim for Olympics
PRAEGVILLE – Nomvula Mbatha, Pavel Tyshler and Harry Saner will compete in sabre, épée and foil at the Olympic Qualifiers.
Three local fencers still hope to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and represent their country and continent.
Pavel Tyshler, Nomvula Mbatha and Harry Saner are no strangers to competing for South Africa at international tournaments. Tyshler and Saner have even competed in the World Cup.
They are all members of Tyshler Fencing School at the Walter Sisulu Hall in Praegville and have each chosen a different sword (or division) to compete with at the African qualifiers.
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These will be held in Egypt in April, though no specific date or venue has been confirmed yet.
“The qualifiers must be held before 15 April, that is the rule,” said Dr Gennady Tyshler, father of Pavel and owner of the fencing school along with his wife Natalia.
“The qualifiers were supposed to be in April this year but they were postponed. The guys are training hard in their divisions and one fencer per country is allowed per weapon. The winner at the qualifiers will go to the Olympics for their country and I guess Africa too.”
Mbatha will compete in the women’s sabre division while Pavel and Saner will participate in the men’s épée and foil categories respectively.
“It is a difficult sport but they will do all they can to prepare,” Tyshler added.
Tyshler is the president of the International Fencing Federation Coaching Council (https://fie.org/fie/structure/council/Coache)
Details: Tyshler Fencing School mail@fencingschool.co.za; 011 792 4338; 082 457 4543.
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