He triumphed by 16 points to 15 over Mongolian opponent Erkhembayar Namdagdorj in a thrilling final.

It came after Panayot Dimitrov of Bulgaria beat Kazakh opponent Nursultan Duisembiyev in the first bronze medal match.

Sargis Sargsyans of Armenia claimed the other podium place after a 14-12 success over Russia's Egor Skryabin.

Russia and Ukraine each won gold medals today in orienteering middle distance races.

Pavel Valeryevich Novikov won the men's race in 45min 16sec in front of fellow Russian Vladimir Grinin.

He clocked 48:23 to finish just 10 seconds before Ukrainian bronze medallist Oleksandr Sankin.

The roles were reversed in the women's race as Hanna Fedosieieva beat Russian duo Antonina Naidionova and Marina Alexeevna Rosink.

The winner clocked 44:04 to win by respective margins of 1:09 and 3:00.

Russia has now won 56 gold and 123 total medals in comparison with just 14 golds and 60 medals for second placed Ukraine.

More than 3,000 athletes from 97 countries are taking part at the premier event for deaf athletes in the Black Sea city.

They are competing in 20 sports - athletics, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, bowling, road cycling, football, golf, handball, judo, karate, mountain bike, orienteering, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball and wrestling.