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| c/o Araneta City |
Fencers took to the piste at the Quantum Skyview at Gateway Mall 2, with the first leg of the ranking tournaments for the Philippine Fencing Association.
This past weekend saw action in the Cadet (U17) divisions on Saturday, while it was the turn of Junior (U20) division on Sunday. Both feature men and women in all three disciplines participating.
Noted powerhouse Canlas Fencing made early headway on Saturday, with its members topping three divisions in Cadet play.
Oscar Gabriel del Castillo started things off by nipping Yllac Guinto of Bladesmith Fencing Club, 15-14 to claim the men's epee title. Matt Mayo (Republic Fencing) and Ian Miranda (UST) ended up on the podium.
In an all-Canlas Fencing final, James Limuel Lim topped Brynt Gale, 15-10, with Derek Perez (Ateneo) and Lucas Palafox (PAREF-Southridge) completing the top four in men's foil. Lim and Gale are also representing the University of the East in a dual capacity in the competition
The other Canlas Fencing champion turned out to be Ivana Salvador, who fended off teammate Jickle Ong, 15-13, women's epee. Another teammate in Nina Canlas, who also is representing UE, joined them in the podium with Solana Trinidad (Ezkrima).
Canlas Fencing also snapped up two more podium spots, with Nicol Canlas (dual representation with UE) at women's sabre and Jada Divinagracia (dual representation with the Multiple Intelligence International School) at women's foil.
Canlas lost to eventual champion Kathleen Tuy of the University of Santo Tomas in the semifinals, 9-15, with Tuy defeating fellow Tiger fencer Ma. Estelliah Gillana, 15-6 in the final. Gillana got a free pass to the final after UE fencer Kirsten Shanelle Catantan had to withdraw in the semifinals due to medical reasons.
Divinagracia bowed to Sophia Catantan in the semifinals, 7-15. The two-time UAAP MVP in the girls division dispatched Hannah Belarmino, 11-6 to claim the crown. Completing the quartet is Regina Pascual of Republic Fencing.
Capping off Saturday action is Eilrahc Sendico outlasting a strong Ateneo contingent in the men's sabre. The UST fencer dispatched Blue Eagle Julian Rosaros in the semifinals, 15-13, before outlasting Julian's teammate Mairon Moulic, 15-14. Moulic had beaten Matthew General in an all-Loyola Heights matchup, 15-9.
Meanwhile on Sunday, perennial powerhouse UE claimed three divisions in the older Juniors division, while Canlas Fencing continued its excellence with podium representation in four divisions.
Reigning UAAP Boys MVP Louis Shoemaker claimed men's foil title with a 15-10 victory over the aforementioned Canlas fencer Marcus Manuel. Lim and Gale followed up their previous day's efforts with a semifinal appearance.
Ramil Encelan Jr prevented Del Castillo an opportunity for a double gold with 15-14 victory in their semifinal matchup in men's epee. The Red Warrior then kickstarted the title proceedings with a 15-10 victory over Jose Faber Cabrera. Cabrera prevented an all-Recto final by beating Von Gale in the other semifinal, 15-10.
The last UE fencer to win this weekend was thanks to Khiane Felipe in men's sabre. Felipe, who is also representing the national team in this tournament, defeated fellow national team stalwart Christian Concepcion in the final, 15-8. Reigning UAAP individual champion Charles Babatio lost to Concepcion in the semifinals, 12-15 to join Vito Coching of La Salle-Zobel as losing semifinalists.
Gillana would extract revenge against Tuy the next day with a dominant 15-5 performance in the semifinals for women's sabre. She then outpointed Kathleen's sister Krystal, 15-14 in an all-UST final. The other Tuy also won 15-5 in the semifinal against UE's Shareen Beltran.
Salvador and Catantan also were denied the opportunity to claim double golds, as both were stunned in the quarterfinals of their respective disciplines.
Belarmino upset the former, 15-14 in women's epee, but lost in the next round to eventual champion Julianna Ballesteros, 12-13. The fencer from UP Diliman topped Nina Canlas, 15-13 to claim the title.
As for the latter, Miyake Capina of La Salle-Zobel pulled off an impressive 15-9 triumph, eventually securing the women's foil title with 15-7 victories over Willa Galvez of the University of the East in the semifinals and Victoria Ebdane of Canlas Fencing and Home School Global in the final.
Fencing activities in Gateway are set to resume this weekend, with Senior Division fencers set to take to the piste.
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