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Back in 2022, the Philippine fencing team spent almost half a year training in a bubble in Ormoc City.
The strategy paid off as the national fencers bagged medals, including seven golds, at the 2023 Southeast Asian Fencing Federation (SEA) Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Apart from winning, the country can also see potential competition in the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia which will be held in May.
“We expect that most of the participating competitors will play in the SEA Games as well,” fencing coach Ramil Endriano told the Inquirer, while adding that despite the wet field, it was enough to give the national team an early lead. measure.
“Not all fencers are the best in the area, but the competition shows what to expect,” Endriano said.
Noelito Jose dominated the men’s individual épée and Wilhemina Lozada was the women’s individual champion. Even better, the team did some testing with podium finishes from the junior ranks.
Team Philippines got its only gold medal at the SEA Games in Vietnam last year from Samantha Catantan in women’s individual foil while Nathaniel Perez (men’s individual foil) and Jose (men’s individual épée) added silver.
Catantan also won silver in the women’s team with Maxine Esteban, Justine Gail Tinio and Lozada.
“Based on the performance of the fencers, I think we have won three gold medals in Cambodia,” Endriano said. “The bubble practice in Ormoc really contributed to the improvement of the team.”
Philippine Fencing Association President Richard Gomez, representative of Ormoc City in Congress, has hosted the bubble training for the national team since 2021.
Next up for the national fencers is a training camp in Hong Kong a month before the SEA Games, scheduled for May 5 to 17 in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
There are also world championships for women’s épée and foil in Korea in March and world championships for men’s saber in China.
Junior fencing collected five gold medals with Andre Agatep winning the junior men’s individual saber in addition to the victory in the junior team saber (Enrico Suplico, Ram Jimenez, Tomas Robert Cabrera), the women’s junior team saber (Alexa Larrazabal, Ashely Harrison, Ivana Salvador, Martina. ). Baccay won the women’s junior team foil and the women’s junior team saber won the women’s junior team saber.
The Philippine team got seven golds, four silvers and 10 bronzes from the tournament. INQ
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