Singapore, Wednesday, August 3, 2011 — The 2011 Fencing Singapore International (FSI) will witness close to 400 top fencers from around the world battling it out over four days of competition. The FSI is into its eighth year, and will be held from August 4th to 7th.

The 400 fencing talents include those from Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and host Singapore and they will be competing in the foil, epee and sabre individual and team categories.

The FSI has traditionally attracted some of the best talents from the region, including Singapore’s own national athletes, who will be using this competition as part of their preparations for the November SEA Games to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

This annual international competition was last held in 2009. The event was not held in 2010 as Singapore was hosting its first Youth Olympic Games in the same year.

On the significance of the competition for fencers from Singapore and also around the region, Fencing Singapore’s President Nicholas Fang said: “This year’s Fencing Singapore International is a key competition for our Singapore athletes, as well as others in the region, seeking to hone their form and prepare for the South-east Asia Games in November.

“Other fencing powerhouses like China are also looking for every opportunity to allow their athletes to compete and benchmark themselves against their opponents in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics in London.”

The FSI 2011 will begin on Thursday, August 4th, 9am and will end on August 7th. The event will be held at the Grand Hall, Singapore Institute of Management at 461 Clementi Road, Singapore 599491. Admission is free.

For more information about the competition and how to get to SIM, please visit the FSI website at http://www.fsi.org.sg.