THE BLUE and Lady Eagles continued their campaign in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81 Fencing Tournament on Friday, November 23, at the Victoria Sports Tower in Quezon City.

Both teams continue to garner medals with Maxine Esteban’s gold medal in the Women’s Sabre Individual competition, in addition to Jaime Viceo and Anton Alianan’s double-bronze finish in the Men’s Foil Individual event.

Women’s Sabre Individual

Rookies Esteban and Julia Ambas suited up for the Lady Eagles in the Women’s Sabre Individual. During the poulings, Esteban finished at fifth place in the Tableau of Eight after a 2-2 record. Julia Ambas, however, bowed out of the competition following a 0-4 record.

Esteban was matched with the fourth-ranked Rebekah Reyno of the University of the Philippines (UP). The Lady Eagle cruised all throughout the match, dispatching her counterpart, 15-6. She then faced National Team member Elvielyn Javinar of the University of the East (UE) in the semi-final round.

Esteban grabbed an early 8-2 lead at the half, but Javinar answered with seven successive points of her own. It would only be a consolation, however, as Esteban eliminated Javinar via a 15-9 decision to advance to the next round.

The 2018 Asian Games participant then collided with another Red Warrior in Allaine Cortey in the finals stage. It was a tight back-and-forth affair early on, with a score of 8-7 at the half. Esteban then slowly created distance and won the match, 15-9, which sealed the second gold medal for the Blue and White.

Men’s Foil Individual

The Ateneo Men’s Fencing Team’ budding rookies Jaime Viceo and Anton Alianan stepped on the piste for the Blue and White in the Men’s Foil Individual event. After a 2-2 finish on the first day, Ateneo’s Viceo swept the poulings and earned himself a second-place finish behind UE’s Sammuel Tranquilan in the Tableau of Eight. On the other hand, Alianan split his matches 2-2 in the elimination rounds and managed to claim the fifth spot in the Tableau of Eight.

In the Tableau of Eight, the crowd was treated with a double Battle of Katipunan as Viceo and Alianan secured slots in the medal rounds after facing Karl Aleta and Lawrence Aleta, respectively. Viceo dominated his match against Karl Aleta with a 15-7 victory while Alianan surpassed Lawrence Aleta, 15-11.

In the semi-final round, Viceo collided with UE’s John Concepcion who ranked third in the Tableau of Eight while Alianan battled it out with Tableau of Eight first seed Sammuel Tranquilan of UE. Viceo fell at the hands of Concepcion, 10-15, while Alianan lost to Tranquilan, 9-15. Despite coming up short, the Blue Eagles were assured a podium finish as both fencers earned a bronze medal each.

Women’s Epee Individual

For the Women’s Epee Individual, seasoned fencers Patricia Sarmiento and Monica Pangilinan represented the Ateneo on the piste. After the poulings, Sarmiento notched the third spot in the Tableau of Eight with a 3-1 win-loss record while Pangilinan finished at 2-2, giving her the seventh spot in the Tableau of Eight.

Sarmiento clashed with University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) Mira Dorimon in the Tableau of Eight. On the other hand, Pangilinan matched up with Tableau of Eight rank two, Mickyle Bustos of UE.

Sarmiento and Dorimon exhausted the three sets of the match as they were caught in a stalemate at 10-all. In the event of a tie, a priority is given to one player which is randomly determined. In this case, Ateneo’s Sarmiento earned the priority. To earn the victory, the priority player has to keep the score at a deadlock while the other player must score at least one point in the span of minute.

In this thrilling finale, Sarmiento failed to keep things at 10-all as Dorimon’s attack was successful, closing the match at 10-11. In an equally thrilling match, Pangilinan kept things close against UE’s Bustos, but also fell one-point shy of notching a spot in the semi-finals as she lost, 14-15.

All in all, Ateneo Fencing still managed to rack up three additional medals; one gold from Maxine Esteban and two bronze medals from Jaime Viceo and Anton Alianan after day 2 of the tournament.

Day 3 of the tourney will start with the Men’s Team Sabre at 9:00 AM while the Men’s Team Epee and Women’s Team Foil is scheduled to begin at 1:30 PM on Saturday, November 24 at the Victoria Sports Tower in Quezon City.