TEAM Philippines won gold medals courtesy of its women’s foil and men’s saber teams in the 2026 Southeast Asian Fencing Federation (SEAFF) Cadet and Junior championship on Tuesday at the Arena TSH OCM in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The triumvirate of Victoria Ebdane, Willa Galvez and Jodie Tan captured the women’s foil team gold medal after downing a team from Vietnam, 44-37, in the finals.
Nail-biter
After dispatching Philippines Team B of Yuna Canlas, Hagia del Castillo and Victoria Malvar in a nail-biting 29-28 triumph in the semifinals, Philippines Team A was in full control all throughout the finals match.
Protecting a slim 9-6 lead, the 15-year-old Galvez - a member of the multi-titled fencing team of University of the East - outscored Nguyen Thi Anh Thu, 10-1, on the fourth of nine bouts that gave the Philippines a comfortable 19-7 advantage.
In men’s saber, Khiane Felipe, Vito Coching, Drake Chung and Matthew General defeated Thailand, 45-40, in the finals as the Philippines added gold medals to the national junior team’s collection of two silver and four bronze medals.
Estelliah Gilliana, Hailey Sophia Peters, Arianna Tiu and Nadelle Turiano of Team Philippines got a silver medal in the women's saber team event.
Oscar del Castillo, who earned a silver medal in men’s individual epee, also had a bronze medal with Joaquin De Silos, Jacob Mayo and Boo Geronimo in men’s team epee.
Also earning bronze medals is Team B (Canlas, Del Castillo and Malvar) in women’s foil; Rhiana Cruz, Eleina Junia, Faith Olemos and Papina Torre in women’s epee; and Inigo Divinagracia, Lucas Palafox, Jethro Chan and Elijah Timbol in men’s foil.
Galvez also earned a bronze medal in women’s individual foil on Monday by beating Singapore’s Sita Naidu Maaravis, 15-14, in the quarterfinals but lost to eventual gold medalist and Malaysia’s national team member Suraya Rizzal, 15-8.
Action continues with the cadet category, with the epee, foil and sabre individuals set August 12 and 13, while the team events will be played on Aug. 14.
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