JODIE Tan and Yuna Canlas dominated their respective divisions in women’s foil that highlighted the campaign of Canlas Fencing team in the 2022 Minime Singapore Fencing Festival at the OCBC Arena in Kallang District.
Tan, of St. Jude Catholic School, bagged her first gold medal in an international tournament as she ruled the 12-and-under category with a dominant 10-4 win over Chinese-Australian Zhang June Irina in the annual event held with foreign participants for the first time in the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Canlas, of Holy Family Parochial School in Pasig City, also pocketed her first gold medal abroad following an impressive 8-2 victory against Zhang Linao of host Singapore in the U10 division.
CF Team also earned five bronze medals courtesy of Amber Diaz in U10 women’s foil, Victoria Ebdane in U12 women’s foil, and Sophia Catantan in the U14 women’s foil.
The two other bronze medals were from the women’s foil team composed of Catantan, Tan, Ebdane and Jada Divinagracia, and the men’s foil team of Antonio Manuel, Yllac and Clyde Guinto, and Inigo Divinagracia.
Overall, it was an impressive campaign for CF particularly to those who made their international debut, including Willa Liana Galvez, an 11 year-old sixth grader at University of the East who placed 11th in U12 women’s foil out of 29 participants. Backed by NLEX, San Miguel Corporation, Rain or Shine, Converge, NorthPort, and Smart Sports, Galvez nearly barged to the top 8 - assured of a bronze medal. She went 3-2 in her pooling, defeated CF teammate Aliyah Diaz 10-7 in the direct elimination Round of 32, but lost 10-4 to a taller and more experienced opponent in sixth-ranked Radzuan Nur Mohd of Malaysia in the Final 16.
“With two gold medals in the tournament, we’re very satisfied with the results we got in the Minime Singapore,” said former national coach Amat Canlas, co-founder of CF with Sally Aramburo. “We could have won a few more like in the team, but with three bronze, still an accomplishment for the CF fencers.”
“The work continues, the training of our fencers because after the Singapore event, we now look forward to a few more tournaments towards the end of the year, including another minime tournament either in Jakarta or in Kuala Lumpur where we hope to win medals.”
Six CF fencers will join the Thailand Fencing Federation Minime on Sept. 23 to 26 in Bangkok. They are Tan and Ebdane in the U12 and U14, Manuel in U14, Diego Son in U14 men’s epee and Simone Maria Atilano in U14 women’s sabre.
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