Fencing: Law Ywen beats Amita Berthier to win U-12 foil final

Contributed by Ryan Quek

Jurong East Sports and Recreation Centre, Friday, September 9, 2011 — Singapore’s young prospects Law Ywen and Amita Berthier, both 11, squared off in an exciting Under-12 Girls Foil final at the Singapree Minime Fencing Championships.

Ywen showed nerves of steel to come back after trailing 5-3 to emerged victorious with a score of 6-5.

Amita, who will be one of the very first students in the Singapore Sports School Fencing Academy next year, was disappointed with the close defeat but nevertheless was satisfied with her performance.

She said: “ I feel I could have done better towards the end of the bout but all credit to Ywen for stepping up her game at the critical moments of the match.”

Lily Chow from Hong Kong and Tatiana Wong from Z Fencing were joint third.

In the first event of the morning, Gabriel Broughton, 11, from Fencing Masters club, overcame a spirited fight from Justin Lim from Z Fencing in the Under-12 Boy’s Epee final.

Both Gabriel and Justin, who are taking part in an official fencing competition for the first time, stormed through the early rounds with three wins and no defeats to emerge as the top two qualifiers of in the elimination rounds.

In the final, Gabriel showed steadier nerves to emerge victorious with a 8-7 scoreline. Cheong Wei Soon and Mohamed Hashim took home the bronzes.

In the Under-12 Boys Foil event, Malaysian representatives Tristan Cheng and Syed Adam snatched the Gold and Silver medals respectively, while Brian Cheong and Darren Tan from Z Fencing club took home the Bronze medals.

Fencing Singapore’s President Nicholas Fang was encouraged by the event’s strong turnout. “It is evident that the large numbers today show how widely accepted fencing has become with Singapore’s younger generation. The huge interest from clubs also shows how well the sport has promoted itself in the last few years.”

The very first Under-10 Boy’s Foil competition saw 10-year-old Richard Teoh from Z Fencing emerge as champion, beating club mate Keiren Lock comfortably with a scoreline of 6-2.

In the Under-10 Girls Foil final, Maxine Wong, 10, from YMCA, snatched the gold medal by beating 9-year-old Ma Ho Chee from Hong Kong.

The Singapore Minime Fencing Championships is into its ninth year and is one of the largest age group fencing competition in South East Asia. This competition is organised for Under-12s and Under-14s and the Under-10 category was staged for the first time this year.

The Singapore Minime Fencing Championships sees more than 450 young talented fencers from Hong Kong, Malaysia, and host Singapore, competing in foil, epee and sabre as individuals and also teams.