Club fencers help Philippines hit gold mine in Malaysia

Filipino fencers are all smiles after the event. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Team Philippines, made up of different clubs, brought home 19 gold medals with six silvers and 25 bronzes from the 3rd Malaysia Fencing Federation (MFF) Minime International held recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The QC-SEP Fencing Team, Alabang Fencing Team, University of the East Fencing Team and Canlas Fencing Team combined for 17 of the country’s 19 gold medals during the weeklong competition.

UE Red Warriors prospects Christine Morales and Yuri Canlas accounted for two gold medals each for CF—which had a total haul of 15 gold medals—as the former ruled the Under-12 women’s foil and epee while the latter topped the Under-10 women’s foil and epee.

Galvez shines

Morales also won gold medals in U12 foil and epee teams, silver in U17 foil team, and two bronze medals in U14 foil individual and U14 sabre team, while Canlas also won gold medals in U10 foil and epee teams, and two bronze medals in U12 foil individual and U12 foil team.

Willa Galvez, a sophomore with UE, defended her U14 women’s foil title in nerve-wracking fashion. After a 4-1 card in pools to get a No. 6 bye, Galvez sent off No. 22 Dhruti Sameeksha Mantena of India, 15-5, in Round 16, No. 3 Liu Yihan of Singapore, 15-11, in quarterfinals and No. 2 Megan Leow, 15-12, in the semifinals.

Galvez then beat UE teammate Yuna Canlas in the all-Filipino finals with a nail-biting 14-13 win.