SINGAPOREAN Amita Berthier, still mourning the death of her father who passed away earlier this year, won the gold medal in the womenâs fencing foil event on Monday (Aug 21) at the Malaysian International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC).
The 16-year-old Berthier defeated her Philippines opponent Samantha Kyle Catantan 15-7 in the individual foil final and shortly later dedicated her victory to her later father Eric, who died this year.Â
âMy dad would have been proud of me,â said an emotional Berthier in a post-victory interview with Singapore journalists.
But it was never an easy route to the final for Berthier as she encountered a tough moment in the semi-finals, coming back from 1-5 down to pull off a magnificent 15-9 win.
âI started fencing nine years ago when I was seven and two years ago I joined the 2015 Singapore SEA Games as a volunteer and I was very motivated to win. I focused point by point until I won the final,â she added.
Maxine Isabel Esteban of Philippines and Nicole Mae Wong Hui Shan of Singapore settled for bronze.
It was an unfortunate day for Malaysians Natasha Ezzra Abu Baka and Fong Tyanne in the foil event. Natasha advanced to the quarterfinals but lost to Myanmar’s Phyu Phyu Aung while Fong Tyanne was eliminated in the preliminary round.
In the menâs sabre individual event, defending champion Vu Thanh An of Vietnam retained the gold medal by defeating Thailand’s Voragun Srinualnad 15-6. Singapore’s Ahmad Huzaifah Saharudin and Vietnam’s Nguyen Xuan Loi won the bronze medal respectively.
Malaysia’s Syed Adam Emir Putra Syed Aidi Putra lost to Singaporeâs Clive Leu Yi Yang 15-14 in the preliminary round.
