CHICAGO - At the risk of being an instigator, I was quietly rooting for a fencing semifinals duel between Samantha Catantan of the Philippines and Maxine Esteban of Cote d' Ivoire.
A rivalry to be settled with a bladed weapon, with an Olympic medal at stake and held in a country with a well-documented history of violence, is the ultimate drama.
But, pardon the pun, the encounter was foiled at the Grand Palais where both fencers were ousted from the Paris Games in the early stages of the women's individual foil competition.
After edging Brazil's Mariana Pistola, 15-13, an extra match she had to go through for not having an outright Olympics berth, Catantan fell to world No. 2 Arianna Errigo, 15-12, in the table of 32.
READ Sam Catantan's brave stand not enough vs world No. 2 Errigo
Esteban, meanwhile, bowed to Tokyo Olympics silver medalist and 13th-seeded Pauline Ranvier of France, 15-7, also in the round-of-32.
It's anticlimactic, unfortunate.
Sadly, at least in this cycle, there will be no medals for the distinguished lady fencers. But if you're into moral victories, there is a silver lining.
NO GO IN PARIS BUT MAYBE IN LA IN 2028?
The averted match-up also prevented a pointed controversy from resurfacing with uncomfortable, uneasy questions being re-asked.
Why did Maxine shed the Philippines' red, white and blue for the green, white and orange colors of the Cote d'Ivoire?
And why did the Philippine Fencing Association allow Esteban, then ranked No.35 and now No. 27 in the world, to walk away?
I'm sure both sides have their reasons, all of which have been put to bed and rendered irrelevant for now, and hopefully, forever.
The biggest takeaway here, though, is that the future is bright for 22-year old Sam and 23-year old Maxine.
Unlike combat sports and gymnastics, sports disciplines where the young brutally devours the old, fencing is pleasantly more age friendly. Errigo, who beat Sam, is 36 years old while Maxine's French conqueror is 30.
With more seasoning in international competitions, Catantan and Esteban are sure to rise in the rankings. So what we didn't see in Paris may well occur in Los Angeles in 2028.
OH CANADA.
Watching Team Canada tame Greece and the Greek Freak, 86-79, blow my socks off.
The Canadian starting five are all NBA players. And they have a total of 10 NBAers including Jamal Murray who came off the bench and scored 8 points and 3 assists in 18 minutes.
But the American's neighbors from the north are clearly Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's team and he showed that by logging 21 points including a jumper in the final 41 seconds that sealed Greece's fate.
As expected, two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Greeks with 32 points and 5 rebounds. He just didn't have enough firepower behind him.
In contrast, Canada had a wretched excess of reinforcement behind SGA.
RJ Barrett finished with 23 points. Dillon Brooks added 14 while Lou Dort and Dwight Powell and Kelly Olynyk combined for 18.
Can't wait to see how Team USA, favored by 13.5 points, will fare against Nikola Jokic and Serbia at 11:30 pm tonight (PH time).
Should be a treat.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
