JUNIOR FENCERS. National coach Rolando Canlas (center) with Samantha Kyle Catantan (right) and Maxine Isabel Esteban. (Photo courtesy of Trifiletti-Pavia-Bizzi Fencing Verona 2018)
MANILA -- Samantha Kyle Catantan bowed to top seed May Tieu of the United States, 9-15, in the third round of the female individual foil Under-17 category of the Junior and Cadets World Fencing Championships in Italy on Sunday.
Catantan, silver medalist in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG), had a first-round bye and breezed past Angelica-Noelle Krause of Germany, 15-3, in the round of 64.
"It was a good fight, Sam. Congratulations for a top 26/110 finish in the World Cadet Fencing Championships! Keep chasing and never be satisfied. Stay hungry!!!" said head coach Rolando Canlas in a message posted on Facebook on Monday.
Tieu defeated fourth seed Delphine Devone of the United States, 15-8, to reach the championship round where she lost to second seed Yuka Ueno of Japan, 7-14.
Meanwhile, Maxine Isabel Esteban placed 28th while Catantan finished 40th among 142 participants in the Under-20 division.
Esteban won over Anastacia Ceres of Moldova, 15-12, and Naomi Moindrot-Zilliox of France, 15-14, before losing to second seed Martina Favaretto of Italy, 1-15.
Favaretto defeated Mariana Pistoia of Brazil, 15-11; Marta Ricci of Italy, 15-8, and Lauren Scruggs, 15-11, to reach the final. She narrowly missed the gold medal, which went to the fourth-seeded Yuka Ueno, who won, 15-14.
Catantan, on the other hand, defeated Tianji Lukins of Australia, 15-12, in the first round but lost to Marta Ricci of Italy, 6-15, in the round of 64.
Seven other Filipinos are entered in the tournament being held at the Catolica Center in Verona, a city in northern Italy's Veneto region. The others are Maricar Matienzo, Sammuel Tranquilan, Jaime Viceo and Filipino-American Lawrence Everett Tan (foil); Juan Miguel Bautista and Filipino-German Keona Carado (epee) and Daniel Britanico (saber).
Esteban has been training in France since January 26, Tan is based in the US and Carado lives in Germany.
Canlas said the Verona trip is part of the national team's long-term program and preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Last year, the Philippines sent Catantan, Esteban, Perez, Tan, Jaime Viceo and CJ Concepcion to the World Championships held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
The Verona tournament is also serving as qualifying for the Youth Olympic Games to be hosted by Buenos Aires, Argentina this October.
"Dito sa Italy kukunin yung mga maglalaro sa Youth Olympic Games. Limited ang slots, sa Asia tatlo lang ang kukunin. Mahirap ang qualifying sa fencing, dadaan talaga sa butas ng karayom. The best of the best talaga," said Canlas.
The national fencers are on high spirits, having won the team bronze (Catantan, Esteban, Matienzo and Anica Abaquin) Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships held from February 24 to March 4 at the Hamdan Sports Complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Aside from Catantan's silver in the SEAG, fencing also won the bronze coming from Matienzo.
After Italy, the national fencers will be competing for one month in France to earn points that will qualify them for the Tokyo Olympics. The athletes will also join the Asian Championships in Bangkok, Thailand in June and the World Championships (Senior) in Wuxi, China in July.
"With all the tournaments we have this year, we hope that our athletes will be more than ready in the Asian Games this August," said Canlas, who also serves as coach of the multi-titled University of the East in the UAAP.
The Asian Games will be co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang cities in Indonesia from August 18 to September 2.
"We are very thankful that the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is giving our athletes the opportunity to compete abroad and expose them to high-level competitions. Aside from funding our trips, the PSC is also providing the team medical assistance," said Canlas. (PNA)
