Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medalists Jylyn Nicanor and Hanniel Abella expect the competition to be tougher in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) for Asia next month in Uzbekistan.
The two earned gold medals the hard way in the SEA Games two years ago here, although competing against some of the best in the region is a totally different story for the two lady fencers.
“The competition in the Southeast region is already solid, add to that the other fencers from other countries in Asia, and it’s going to be a lot harder,” Abella, also a silver medalist in women’s epee individual event in the last SEA Games, said Monday in a message to Manila Bulletin.
“Like us, they are also preparing for this OQT, some of them started earlier compared to us. We’ve been here in Ormoc City for a month now inside the bubble so we know we are up against a tough competition,” added Nicanor.
Abella won gold medal with the women’s epee team in the 30th SEA Games, and took home the silver medal in the individual category, while Nicanor bagged gold in the women’s sabre individual event.
The two have been in the bubble training camp in Ormoc City since last month with three other Filipino fencers preparing for the OQT on April 26 to 27. It was transferred to Uzbekistan from Seoul, South Korea due to health concerns.
The three other fencers inside the bubble are CJ Concepcion in the men’s sabre, Noelito Jose in men’s epee, and Nathaniel Perez in men’s foil.
Samantha Catantan will also see action in the OQT in the foil event, but she is currently in the US playing for Penn State University in the NCAA. Prior to the OQT, she is also set to join the World Junior’s Fencing Championships on April 3-11 in Cairo, Egypt.
Concepcion won silver medal in men’s individual saber, while Catantan, Jose and Perez earned bronze medal in their respective SEAG events – women’s individual foil, men’s individual epee and men’s individual foil.
The format in the OQT is that only the champion fencer from each category will earn an Olympic berth for the Asian region.
Slots were already decided in various OQTs in other continents, as well as through the world rankings from the world governing body FIE, or the International Fencing Federation.
With more than a month to go before the national team leaves for Uzbekistan, Abella’s analysis is that they still not a hundred percent, but they are all working hard to get their top form.
The training bubble, arranged by Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez, also the president of the Philippine Fencing Association (PFA), gave them an opportunity to improve their skills since they were not able to train for almost a year due to lockdowns in efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“That’s the most important thing, we were allowed to train and the venue we have right now really allows us to focus,” said Abella. “We’re still a work on progress but we are getting there.”
The national team, headed by its head coach Amat Canlas, hopes to end a long drought since it was Walter Torres who last made it to the Olympics during the 1992 Barcelona edition.
“That’s our hope, our prayer. We’re doing our best to prepare our athletes. It’s going to be tough, but they’ll fight for it, I’m sure of that,” said Canlas.