Contributed by Ryan Quek

Seoul, Friday, July 8, 2011 — Foil fencers Cheryl Wong and Ruth Ng made it to the Round of 16 to achieve their best ever showing in the individual events on the first day of Asian Fencing Championships 2011. The women’s foil team clinched a bronze medal in the team event during last year’s championships which is Asia’s premier fencing competition.

20-year-old NUS undergraduate Cheryl Wong, ranked in sixth place after the preliminary rounds, easily defeated her Australian opponent Sung Lishan, 15-5 in the round of 32. 25-year-old Ruth Ng, on the other hand, defeated team mate Wang Wenying in a tense bout, 15-10.

However both Singapore fencers bowed out in the round of 16 against their superior opponents. Ruth put up a valiant fight but eventually succumbed 15-9 against the formidable South Korean, Nam Hyun Hee, currently ranked number two in the world. Cheryl, could not find a way past her more experienced Chinese opponent, Chen Jinyan and eventually lost 15-5.

Cheryl, who displayed some sterling performances in the preliminary rounds was delighted with how the day went.

“I just kept my focus and worked on what I’ve been practicing in trainings, so I was quite happy that I managed to pull off whatever I set out to do today,” said Cheryl.

Commenting on the performance of the Singapore fencers, Nicholas Fang, President of Fencing Singapore, said: “The two girls have done us proud, finishing among the best in the region. The competition is tough this year as it is a pre-Olympic year with qualification points up for grabs.”

He added: “The girls have made significant progress which bodes well for the SEA Games this year, and the Olympics in 2012.”

The Singapore national men’s sabre team, did not fare as well as 18-year-old Ernest Chua progressed the furthest only to lose to South Korean Oh Eun Seok, in the round of 32.

Fencing Singapore sent a total of 22 athletes to this year’s annual competition which is hosting a total of close to 300 athletes from 8th July to 13th July.

More information about the sport can be found at http://fencingsingapore.org.sg