Filipino fencers settled for a silver and bronze on day 1 of the 30th Southeast Asian Games fencing meet at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
Amita Berthier of Singapore spoiled Samantha Catantan’s efforts to reach the finals with a 15-9 triumph in the semifinals of the individual women’s foil event.
Later, fellow Singaporean Maxine Wong clinched the top honors after posting a 6-0 rally in the second round, and taking a 15-10 verdict over Berthier in the finals.
Vietnamese Vu Thanh An frustrated Christian Concepcion, 15-13, in a closely-fought men’s individual sabre finals match.
Concepcion took a seat in the finals when he turned back Clive Yu of Singapore, 15-10.
Fencing includes three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the saber. Winning points are made through the weapon’s contact with an opponent.
Fencing was one of the first sports to be played in the Olympics. Based on the traditional skills of swordsmanship, the modern sport arose at the end of the 19th century.
Each of the three forms of fencing uses a different kind of weapon and has different rules. Most competitive fencers choose to specialize in one weapon only.
Competitive fencing is one of the five activities which have been featured in every modern Olympic Games, the other four being athletics, cycling, swimming, and gymnastics.