Filipino fencers shone at the recent Southeast Asian Fencing Federation (SEAFF) Junior and Cadet Fencing Championship after collecting five gold, seven silver and 13 bronze medals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Oscar del Castillo led the charge for the Filipinos with a gold medal in the 17-under cadet men’s epee, while Willa Galvez, Victoria Ebdane and Jodie Tan also bagged the junior women’s foil team gold.
Also ruling their respective team events are Ebdane, Tan, Yuna Canlas and Hagia Del Castillo in the cadet women’s foil team; Khiane Felipe, Vito Coching, Drake Chung and Matthew General in the sabre junior men’s team; and Del Castillo, Joaquin de Silos, Jacob Mayo and Li Jiashu in the epee cadet men’s team.
Going home with silver medals were Oscar Del Castillo (21-under junior men’s epee individual), Hagia Del Castillo (cadet women’s foil individual), the cadet women’s foil team of Galvez, Christine May Morales and Victoria Malvar; the women’s epee team of Papina Torre, Eleina Junia and Faith Olemos; the junior women’s saber team of Estelliah Gilliana, Hailey Peters, Arianna Tiu and Nadelle Turiano; the cadet men’s sabre team of Drake Chung, Marcus Co Say, Erlon Mallari and Sean Ragos; and the cadet women’s sabre team of Ryona Salvante, Elise Acuzar, Ruth Nierras and Estelliah Gillana pocketed a silver in cadet women’s sabre.
Galvez, whose competition abroad is supported by Nickel Asia Corporation, with backing from Converge, NLEX Corporation, Rain or Shine, MVP Sports Foundation, Strong Group Athletics, Pocari Sweat and Icons Sports Management Services, also bagged the bronze in the junior women’s foil individual.
Also bringing home the bronze were Ebdane and Canlas (women’s foil individual), Don Geronimo (cadet men’s epee), Jethro Chan (cadet men’s foil), Papina Torre (cadet women’s epee); the junior men’s team epee of Geronimo, Mayo, de Silos and del Castillo; the junior women’s foil team of Canlas, Del Castillo and Malvar; the junior women’s epee of Junia, Olemos, Torre and Rhiana Cruz; the junior men’s foil team of Inigo Divinagracia, Lucas Palafox, Elijah Timbol and Chan; the cade women’s epee team of Cruz, Summer Feliciano and Chiara Guidote; the cadet men’s sabre team of Luis Clemente, Ynigo Estrada and Qody Omengan; and the cadet men’s foil team of Chan, Palafox and Yohann Roldan.
