National Team members and University of the East standouts Sophie Catantan and Louis Shoemaker head the Philippine contingent that will see action in the 2025 Bangkok FIE Foil Junior World Cup scheduled December 13 to 15 at the Diamond Hall, Zeer Ransit Shopping Mall in Don Mueang, Bangkok, Thailand.
Catantan and Shoemaker are both hoping to have better results after losing their respective bouts in the round-of-164 of this same tournament last year, and in the way use this event to prepare them well in the fencing competition of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, which Thailand is also hosting.
Catantan will team up with her sisters, Paris Olympics veteran Samantha and Ysah, in the team event of women’s foil, while Shoemaker hopes to provide help in the men’s foil team that has veterans Nathaniel Perez, Sammuel Tranquilan and Nicollei Felipe in the biennial SEA Games meet that begins December 16.
The focus now, however, for the two UE fencers is the three-day junior World Cup alongside fellow Red Warriors in James Lim, Willa Galvez and Yuna Canlas.
Catantan, Shoemaker and Lim are on their second World Cup, while Galvez and Canlas will be making their World Cup debuts.
“We hope to make the most as we compete again in the World Cup before we head to the SEA Games,” said the 16-year-old Catantan, a Grade 10 student of UE who is in her second year as a member of the national team.
“Both tournaments are equally important for us, that’s why we hope to do well in the junior’s World Cup and in the SEA Games.”
Shoemaker, a college freshman taking up international studies, said the goal for him, Catantan and Lim is to improve from their respective finishes following early exits during the Direct Elimination in last year’s junior World Cup.
“We hope to do better, we hope to improve not only our skills but also our respective placings. We know it’s a tough task but we know what to expect as compared to when we first participated in the junior World Cup last year,” said Shoemaker, 19, who is on his second to last stint in this event.
As for Galvez and Canlas, the two hope to use the competition not only to improve their skills but to gain experience as they look forward to the UAAP Season 88 fencing championship set March 2026.
Supported by Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC), Pocari Sweat, Strong Group Athletics (SGA), Rain or Shine, NLEX, DALAKUHA and MVP Sports Foundation, Galvez is eyeing a second straight podium finish in women’s foil individual category in the UAAP following a bronze medal finish in UAAP Season 87 last April.
Other UAAP fencers in the country’s junior’s team contingent in this World Cup are Ateneo’s Derek Perez and Miyake Capina of De La Salle Zobel, while guiding them are former UE and national team members turned coaches Michael Nicanor, Wilhelmina “Bing” Lozada and Justine “Stang” Tinio.
Completing the junior’s squad are Jodie Tan, Victoria Ebdane of Homeschool Global, Jada Divinagracia of Multiple Intelligence International School, Hagia del Castillo of Poveda, Jethro Chan of Homeschool of Asia Pacific, Antonio Gregorio Manuel of University of Asia and the Pacific, David Ong of School of Isolated and Distance Education (S.I.D.E.) Australia, Dean Myers of Haverford University in Pennsylvania, Nathan Palma of Olentangy High School in Ohio and Jacob Leh of Huntington Beach High School in California.
