A PHILIPPINE team snatched five gold, seven silver and 13 bronze medals in the recent Southeast Asian Fencing Federation (SEAFF) Junior and Cadet Championships at the Arena TSH OCM in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Oscar del Castillo led the charge with a gold medal in the 17-and-under cadet men’s epee which he complimented with a silver medal in the 21-and-under junior men’s epee.
The 16-year-old del Castillo bowed to Singapore’s Benjamin Lee, 15-11, in the junior men’s epee final, but rebounded with a convincing 15-8 win against Do Dang Khoi of Vietnam in the cadet men’s gold medal play.
Willa Galvez, on the other hand, earned a bronze medal in junior women’s foil individual, while Hagia del Castillo settled with a silver in the cadet class with Victoria Ebdane and Yuna Canlas clinching a bronze medal each in women’s individual foil.
Galvez-supported by Nickel Asia Corp., Converge, NLEX Corp., Rain or Shine, MVP Sports Foundation, Strong Group Athletics, Pocari Sweat and Icons Sports Management Services-beat Singapore’s Sita Naidu Maaravis, 15-14, in the quarterfinals but dropped a 15-8 decision to eventual gold medalist and Malaysia national team member Suraya Rizzal.
Del Castillo missed the gold medal following a 15-7 defeat to Oo Chin Yu of Malysia in the final after beating Ebdane in the semifinals 15-3, while Canlas suffered a 15-5 loss to Oo in the other semifinals bracket.
Don Geronimo (men’s epee), Jethro Chan (men’s foil) and Papina Torre (women’s epee) earned bronze medals in cadet individual categories.
In team events, Galvez and Ebdane teamed up with Jodie Tan to secure the junior women’s foil gold, before Ebdane and Tan joined hands with Canlas and del Castillo to take home the cadet women’s foil gold.
National athlete Khiane Felipe connived with Vito Coching, Drake Chung and Matthew General in ruling the sabre junior men’s team event, while del Castillo starred with Joaquin de Silos, Jacob Mayo and Li Jiashu to win the epee cadet men’s team title.
Galvez also got silver in the cadet women’s foil team with Christine May Morales and Victoria Malvar, while the women’s epee team of Papina Torre, Eleina Junia and Faith Olemos also won a silver medal.
Also in teams, Estelliah Gilliana, Hailey Peters, Arianna Tiu and Nadelle Turiano also settled with a silver in junior women’s saber, while Chung won a silver in cadet men’s sabre with Marcus Co Say, Erlon Mallari and Sean Ragos; and Ryona Salvante, Elise Acuzar, Ruth Nierras and Gillana pocketed a silver in cadet women’s sabre.
Also winning bronze medals in team events include Geronimo, Mayo, de Silos and del Castillo in junior men’s team epee; Canlas, Del Castillo and Malvar in junior women’s foil; Junia, Olemos, Torre and Rhiana Cruz in junior women’s epee; Inigo Divinagracia, Lucas Palafox, Elijah Timbol and Chan in junior men’s foil; Cruz, Summer Feliciano and Chiara Guidote in cadet women’s epee; Luis Clemente, Ynigo Estrada and Qody Omengan in cadet men’s sabre; and Chan, Palafox and Yohann Roldan went home with a bronze in cadet men’s foil.