Filipino fencers captured two more gold medals to finish second overall at the close of the Southeast Asian Federation Fencing Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently.
Meagan Elizabeth Co Say and Alexa Larrazabal bested their rivals to rule the cadet women’s saber and cadet women’s epee, respectively.
Co Say held her ground in the crunch to escape a resilient Perada Limsakul, 15-13, in the final round while Larrazabal edged teammate Ashley Mae Michelle Harrison, 15-10.
Prior to her gold-medal triumph, the fifth-seeded Co Say demolished Thailand’s Sitarin Divari, 15-6; Indonesia’s Bifani Ivana Cordela, 15-8; and Thailand’s Peempat Wongthongsri, 15-11.
Larrazabal, for her part, earned an opening-round bye before thumping Malaysia’s Wardah Al-Jannah Abdul Rahman, 15-2; teammate Robyn Noelle Sykat, 15-7; and Vietnam’s Nguyen Kim Ngan, 15-11.
The PH team also added two silvers courtesy of Harrison in cadet women’s epee and Joseph Anthony Godbout in cadet men’s epee, as well as one bronze medal from Hannah Belarmino in cadet women’s foil.
Overall, the PH squad reaped eight gold, seven silver and 11 bronze medals in the weeklong meet behind Vietnam, which collected 13 golds, 10 silvers and 12 bronzes.
Host Malaysia finished third with six golds, six silvers and 18 bronzes.
Other Filipino gold medalists were the junior men’s team saber of Andre Dominic Agatep, Thomas Robert Cabrera, Raphael Martin Jimenez II and Enrico Lucio Suplico; the junior team women’s saber of Maiev Tyrande Boy, Kaikaku Dela Serna, Arianna Tiu and Say Co; the junior team women’s foil of Jene Baccay, Miyake Capina, Janna Allysah Catantan and Belarmino; Agatep in junior men’s saber; Wilhelmina Lozada in senior women’s foil and Noelito Jose Jr. in senior men’s epee.