University of the East fencers Willa Liana Galvez and Abi France Pangilinan delivered contrasting wins as they pocketed the gold medals in their respective categories, while Lily Juico won her first epee title during the Oblation Fencing Cup over the weekend in Quezon City.
Galvez, an incoming Grade 8 for the Red Warriors who made her UAAP debut in Season 86 last March, won the gold medal in Under-12 girl’s foil division following a thrilling 10-8 win over Christine Morales of Canlas Fencing, who blew an 8-7 lead as the aggressive Galvez scored three straight points.
It was the last competition for Galvez in the U-12, as she will turn 13 on July 16. This was the reason why she let out a scream in celebration of her win in the finals, which came after a thrilling 7-5 victory in the semifinal round against Yuna Canlas, an incoming rookie for the Red Warriors.
“I’m just happy to win my last U-12 competition. My last two tournaments in U-12 ended in defeats in the finals and semifinals – both times I thought it was my last. I was given another chance, which is probably my last in U-12, so I gave it my all. A good farewell at U-12,” said Galvez.
Canlas and Jonie Ching settled for the bronze medals.
Backed by Strong Group Athletics, San Miguel, Nickel Asia Corporation, Rain or Shine, Pocari Sweat PH, Eastern Communications, Kick-Start Coffee, NLEX, Smart Communications, and the MVP Sports Foundation, Galvez and Canlas are set to join a training camp on July 13 to 18 in Taiwan, and a competition on July 20 to 22 in Thailand as they gear up for UAAP Season 87.
Pangilinan, on the other hand, won the gold medal in U-12 mixed epee as he edged Juico 10-5 in the finals.
He and Canlas are both incoming Grade 7 student-athlete scholars at UE with Ryona Salvante (saber), while Don Geronimo (epee) and Bryan Siembra (sabre) are both entering Grade 10, and Eya Mendoza (foil) is a Grade 11 transferee.
As the top finisher in girls, Juico – daughter of Quezon City District 1 councilor and QCSep Fencing Team founder Joseph Juico – got the gold medal.
Galvez, who lost to Pangilinan in the semifinals, earned the silver medal, while Ching and Mary Guidote of Mandaluyong Fencing got the bronze.
Johnshie Candelaria of Hampton Court FC finished behind Pangilinan with the silver in the boys bracket, while Kevin Salipong and Yoseph Mabini of QCSep shared for the bronze medal in the event organized by Oblation Fencing, founded in 2022 by UP fencers Michael Tan and Dale Gonzales.
“We’re very happy with the turnout on our first event in Oblation Fencing. It’s a success just seeing the young fencers who participated. More than the medals they won, it’s the experience they gained in tournaments like this, which we hope to do again soon,” said Tan.
Other winners were Grey Ang of CF (U-7 mixed foil), Lukas dela Cruz of Hampton (U-8 mixed foil), Liam Ibarra of CF (U-10 boys foil), Yuri Canlas of CF (U-12 girls foil) and Lucas Palafox of Alabang Fencing (U-12 boys foil). Linus Syyengco of CF (U-8 mixed saber), Alden Umali of Siege Saber (U-10 mixed sabre), Elise Acuzar of CF (U-12 girls sabre), Ygo Soriano of Calle de Armas (U-12 boys sabre).
Jowie Cabaccan of Oblation (U-10 mixed epee), Summer Feliciano of Alabang Fencing (U-15 girls epee) and Sid Peralta of CF (U-15 boys epee).
