FILE – Samantha Catantan of the Philippines (R) competes with Singapore’s Amita Marie Nicolette Berthi during the women’s foil individual final of the 29th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Kuala Lumpur on August 21, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Adek BERRY
MANILA, Philippines — Samantha Catantan delivered the Philippine fencing team’s first gold in the 31st Southeast Asian Games on Saturday in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Catantan outlasted Singapore’s Maxine Jie Xin Wong with a thrilling 14-12 victory in the final of women’s individual foil at Hanoi Indoor Games Palace.
The Filipino fencer, who settled for bronze in the 2019 biennial meet, completed a dominant title run including a masterful 15-4 win over Thailand’s Chayabutphat Shinnakerdchoke in the semifinal.
Wong defeated her compatriot Kemei Cheung, 15-10, in their all-Singaporean semis duel only to bow out to Catantan and settle for silver.
Meanwhile, Noelito Jose Jr. settled for silver after losing to hometown bet Nhat Nguyen Tien, 15-11, in the final of the men’s individual epee.
It was Jose’s only defeat in the contest after he dominated I Jie Koh of Malaysia, 15-5, in the semifinal and beat Jian Tong Si To, 15-12 in the elimination.
He also beat Thai Nattiphong Singkham and Vietnamese Den Nguyen Phuoc with a pair of 5-1 victories in the preliminaries. However, his compatriot, Jian Miguel Bautista failed to advance in the men’s epee medal match.
Maxine Esteban was also knocked out in the elimination round of the women’s foil after losing to Cheung, 10-15.