By Peter Atencio
There is a possibility that Samantha Catantan could face Maxine Esteban in the women’s fencing meet of Paris Olympics
And Catantan is not counting out this scenario, now that both of them have qualified for the Summer Games.
“Kung mag-tapat ganu’n talaga, wala naman kami magagawa. I think we worked really hard. It would be nice to fence against each other because it’s been a long time since the last time we fenced,” said the 22-year-old Catantan.
Catantan reflected on her future, some three days after she endured a close encounter with Kazakhstan’s Sofiya Akatyeva, 15-14, in the women’s foil finals of Asia-Oceania Zonal Olympic Qualifier on in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, last Saturday.
She said this after Catantan and her coach Amatov Canlas, got ready to leave Dubai, along with members of the national team, Nathaniel Perez, Noelito Jose and Hanniel Abella.
Perez, Jose and Abella missed qualification after taking part in their respective categories during the two-day meet.
“Of course, you don’t want to fence your teammate in that kind of tournament, kasi kahit papaano gusto mo makalaban ‘yung mga hindi mo pa naka-laban before. We’ll see – We’ll do our best to prepare for the tournament,” said Catantan.
The 23-year-old Esteban was granted Ivorian citizenship through naturalization.
In May 2023, Esteban switched federations to represent Ivory Coast in international meets.
“It’s going to be a very tough tournament, kasi itong mga players na ‘to they’re built to fence in the Olympics. The last four years alam nila na makaka-pasok sila so they’ve been preparing for this moment,” added Catantan.
She became the 12th Filipino athlete to make it to the Paris Olympics this month, following the qualification of rower Joanie Delgaco and artistic gymnastics standout Levi Jung-Ruivivar.
Esteban’s first podium finish for the West African country came at the 2023 African Fencing Championships in Cairo, Egypt.
When Esteban clinched a bronze medal in the foil, she eventually qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“Pero lahat naman kami kasi nagta-trabaho at nagsi-sipag na magkaroon ng magandang performance, and my goal is to give my very best and fight until kung saan ako abutin ng kakayanan ko,” added Catantan.