Jiří Beran won the fencing Grand Prix in Cali. The 41-year-old cord player won eleven out of twelve duels in the Colombian venue and defeated his Italian opponent Davide di Veroli 9:8 in the final.
Beran was the first Czech fencer to win the elite category tournament, which is analogous to the tennis Grand Slam in fencing.
His highest was third place in 2010 in Legnano, Italy. Beran made his way to the triumph of his life from the position of 114th corduroy player in the world ranking.
He suffered his only defeat in Cali in the seven-man qualifying group against his American opponent from the bottom of the second hundred of the FIE ranking, Nicholas Lawson.
However, he won the other five matches and did not find a conqueror even in the elimination round, where he dealt with four opponents from the top 50 of the ranking.
