EN GARDE. The Ateneo men’s and women’s fencing squads finish third and fourth in this year’s UAAP tournament. (Photo by Alexandra L. Huang)

THE BLUE and Lady Fencers concluded University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 76 in third and fourth place, respectively. The four-day tournament was held from January 30 to February 2 at the Blue Eagle Gym.

Lady Fencers

Lady Fencers Kim Licup and Andie Ignacio drew first blood in the opening day of the tournament. Both of them represented the Ateneo in the women’s individual foil event, and while both did not fare well in their rankings during the direct elimination, they were able to qualify for the quarterfinals.

Ignacio, last year’s bronze medalist in the women’s foil event, outlasted University of the East (UE) contender Wilhelmina Lozada and forced her way into the finals match. There she went up against Darlene Drio of Far Eastern University (FEU). This showdown, however, ended with a slim advantage in favor of FEU, forcing Ignacio to settle for silver.

After Ignacio’s performance, the expectations were raised for the team event of the women’s foil division. Ignacio and Licup were once again thrown into the battlefield, alongside Ara Simon and Joy Federico. The team was able to make it through the eliminations, outlasting FEU to qualify for the finals.

The championship match saw the Lady Fencers go up against powerhouse UE, whose members include national team players. UE proved to be too strong for the Lady Fencers, and Ateneo settled for the second place.

The sabre division, on the other hand, was highlighted by the podium finish of Lady Fencers Nikki de Castro, Justine Joseph, Acdea Lim and Audrey Uyan. The team defeated the University of the Philippines in the quarterfinals, before falling short to the eventual overall first runner-up, University of Santo Tomas (UST), and taking home bronze.

Completing the Lady Fencers’ Season 76 campaign was the epée division competition, which featured heartbreaking losses, particularly in the team event. While the team was able to make it as far as the semifinals, they were upset by eventual overall second runner-up FEU by a single point, thus denying them the bronze.

Team Captain Elise Chanco shares, “[It was] a pretty heartbreaking game. We were expected finalists for the event because we had great performances in all of the preseason competitions this year, and it kills me that we weren’t able to deliver.”

Despite this loss, however, the Lady Fencers finished fourth overall, one step higher than last year’s fifth place performance. Chanco believes that the improvement was due to the fact that the team was composed mostly of graduating seniors who gave it their all for the last time.

“It’s safe to say that almost all of us are leaving fencing behind now. We improved and I think that the seniors really wanted to finish their fencing careers strong,” Chanco said.

Blue Fencers

The first day of the men’s tournament featured Blue Fencers Kevin Hao and Miguel Sarmiento competing in the sabre individual event. Both fared well in the direct eliminations, and both found themselves in the tableau of eight.

In compliance with the rules for the sport, however, two representatives from the same team may be seeded to compete against each other provided that they were matched together through rankings. This was the case for Hao and Sarmiento, who hesitantly competed with each other to qualify for the semifinals.

Given that both Hao and Sarmiento are graduating seniors, it was undoubtedly one of the toughest matches to witness this season. “Many of us were pretty affected,” Chanco said. “It was a hard game to watch. Hao ended up winning it, then moving to the semis, left with a bronze.”

Rookie Morgan Joseph made his UAAP debut in the foil individual event. He entered the direct eliminations round in fourth place, but his opponent was a more experienced fencer from FEU. With that, Joseph’s lead in the first few rounds was eventually erased.

On the other hand, Derich Cabrera was able to make it to the tableau of eight because of his win against UST in the Top 16 round. After facing Michael Nicanor of UE, however, Cabrera was eliminated and Nicanor proceeded to the semifinals, eventually becoming the gold medalist of the men’s foil individual event.

Despite not being able to give a top-notch performance in the individual events, the team successfully climbed up their standings by fighting well in the team events.

This year’s men’s epee team was composed of Joao Celestino, Spencer Galit, CJ Tan and Team Captain Kelvin Ingente. During the quarterfinals, the veteran team made a comeback against the FEU epée team, whom they succumbed to in last year’s match. Unfortunately, the Blue Fencers’ failed to advance to the finals due to their loss to UST. Nevertheless, the team was able to garner the bronze medal once again after two years.

In the sabre team’s event, the Blue Fencers swept the gold medal once again. With Hao and Sarmiento ranking well in the individual sabre event, the men’s sabre team was seeded straight to the semifinals. The squad was able to easily knock out the UST sabre team and advance to the finals. Apart from veterans Hao and Sarmiento, the team was also composed of two rookies, Carlos De Los Reyes and Carlo Racho.

Competition was tight between the Ateneo and UE during the finals of the men’s sabre team event. The Blue Fencers took control early, leading UE for the first few rounds, until they struck back fast, making it a deuce at 44-44. With only one point left to determine the winner, Sarmiento anchored the game for the Blue Fencers and stole both the point and the match away from the opponent.

In the end, this year’s men’s sabre team bagged first place.

However, the very last performance of Blue Fencers Joseph, Sarmiento, Cabrera and Ingente in the men’s foil team event was heartbreaking to watch. The anchor of the team, Cabrera, injured his knee during the match against UST in the semifinals. The determined fencer forced himself to endure the rough and painful game because Sarmiento had already substituted for Ingente in the previous round. Unfortunately, he was unable to move in the last few rounds, leaving the foil team with no choice but to forfeit the event.

The road ahead

Though the competition had its ups and downs, the players were nevertheless proud of one another for what they managed to achieve. Both the men’s and women’s teams featured a bevy of rookies who helped bag medals in the team events, hinting at a bright future for the teams.

Rookie Lady Fencers Uyan, Joseph and Lim showed their potential as they performed alongside veteran de Castro in the women’s sabre team event. “Eighty percent of our girls team was composed of rookies and we won bronze,” pointed out Head Coach Edward da Liva in a mix of English and Filipino. “And for the opponent we won against for bronze, 60 percent of their team was made up of seniors and graduating students. This is why our team is very promising,” he adds.

Even without national team player Mighty Ignacio on the team this year, the Ateneo Blue Fencers managed to defend their stand on the podium. With new additions to the team, namely De Los Reyes and Racho, the team was still able to bag the third best spot on the podium. “We came out stronger this year,” said Ingente

In order to further improve the skills of both teams, the veteran Blue and Lady Fencers will continue to help the rookies of the team train and guide them for the next season. “What I hope next year is that us, seniors, continue to train with them because they still have a long way to go,” shares Ingente. “We can really assure that their development goes the way we planned it,” he says.