Israel's Noam Mills took bronze at the senior European Championships in Leipzig. Competing in the women's epee, Mills produced her best result of the season and career best as a senior.

A good first round with three victories out of five fights positioned her for a decisive 15-7 win over the Ukraine's Ksenija Panteleyeva at the start of direct elimination, followed by a 12-10 win on time against Anna Sivkova of Russia in the last-32 stage. Two more good wins saw the Mills, 25, facing world No.13 Imke Duplitzer of Germany, to whom she went out 15-8. Duplitzer went on to take gold.

Israeli Fencing spokesman Yosi ben Bassat said: "It is good that Israel has achieved this level of result where we can win international medals."

The performance took Harvard student Mills to 23rd in the world and bodes well for the 2012 Olympics.