RP fencers finally snatch medal in Asian tilt

The Philippines finally broke its medal drought after the cadet girls’ foil team nabbed the bronze in the 2010 Asian Cadet and Junior Fencing Championships at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City. The trio of Karen Pangilinan, Justine Gail Tinio and Andrea Pangilinan overpowered Australia’s Catherine Tierney, Emily Marotta and Lishan Sung in the quarterfinals, 45-34, to barge into medal round.

However, the Filipinas failed to aspire for the gold as they fell to the powerhouse Japanese team of Yuki Yasuda, Risa Kawamura, Fuko Takahashi and Kaho Nagase in the semis, 22-45, to settle for the bronze, the country’s first medal in the 10-day meet. The Japanese went on the collar the mint with a 34-25 victory over Hong Kong’s Cheng Hiu Lam, Cheng Hiu Wai and Ho Kelly Long Sze in a much-anticipated championship showdown. The locals’ bronze medal glitters like gold for the hosts, who expect to gain momentum from the effort after setbacks in the first few days. “We must admit the competition here is strong but the performance of the cadet girls’ team was very good although we expect more for the juniors team in all levels," said Celso Dayrit, president of the Fencing Confederation of Asia. “This is also a good preparation and exposure for our young fencers," added Dayrit, a former president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). The Filipino fencers are expected to add more medals in the juniors division, led by Filipino-American Mia Howell, a silver medalist in the cadet girls event two years ago in Kazakhstan. Japan’s gold medal effort in the cadet girls’ foil team was their fourth following a 34-25 win over Hong Kong. It followed up Riki Oishi’s cadet foil and cadet team foil gold medals and Yuki Yasuda’s individual cadet boys’ saber mint. Also scoring a win was Kazakhstan, which captured the gold in the cadet boys’ epee team event at the expense of Japan, 45-35. Ivan Deryabin snagged his second gold of the tournament as he joined Kiril Zhakupov and Dimitriy Adaikin in beating Japan’s Naoki Yoshizawa, Kenta Nishimori and Aoi Tsue in the final. Deryabin took home his first gold medal in the cadet boys’ individual epee a few days back. - GMANews.TV