Pancho Paskov

Pancho Paskov
Born (1994-05-09) 9 May 1994 (age 30)
Sofia, Bulgaria
Sport
CountryBulgaria
Weaponsabre
Handright-handed
National coachIvailo Vodenov
ClubSveshnikov
FIE rankingcurrent ranking

Pancho Paskov (Bulgarian: Панчо Пасков; born 9 May 1994) is a Bulgarian sabre fencer.

Paskov trained at Sveshnikov Club and at the Vasil Etropolski Academy in Sofia. In the 2011–12 season he won a silver medal at the Mediterranean Championships in Poreč.[1] In the following season, at the age of 17, he reached the table of 64 at the Plovdiv World Cup.

In 2015 a knee injury compelled him to stop training for months. Lack of funds also prevented him from taking part in World Cup competitions.[2] However, he ranked amongst the top four at the Prague pre-olympic tournament in April 2016, securing his qualification to the 2016 Summer Olympics. He is the first Bulgarian Olympic fencer since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.[3] In the men's sabre event he created a surprise by eliminating World No. 1 Alexey Yakimenko in the first round, but he lost in the table of 16 to Germany's Matyas Szabo.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Пасков на „Аспарухов меч” след успех в Пореч (in Bulgarian). Viasport. 4 February 2012.
  2. ^ Bozhidar Kartunov (20 April 2016). Българската фехтовка очаква успехи след спечелената квота за игрите в Рио. Dnevnik (in Bulgarian).
  3. ^ Панчо Пасков: Сам финансирах подготовката си (in Bulgarian). Radio Bulgaria. 10 April 2016.
  4. ^ Eric Weeks (10 August 2016). "Around the Piste: Junghwan Kim wins bronze for South Korea". NBC Olympics.