Intense fight for top spot in fencing tourney

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AFTER completing the inter-team event last month, The Touche Fencing Club will be lining up the inter-school team event in November.

The club’s chief coach, C.W. Mok, said they were hosting the two team events because their trainees were excited about featuring in the team format.

“Usually, they only get to compete in individual age-group tournaments. It was a refreshing change for them to foster closer bonds and develop better camaraderie featuring as a team. For the inter-team event, we allowed them to pick their own team mates and form a side. However, they will have to represent the respective schools in the up coming competition,” he added.

Concentration: Mok (centre) stressing a point to Zariff (left) and Zhuo Zhi during a training session.

The organisers are also expecting junior fencers from three clubs in Singapore - Blade, Y Sparks and YMCA - to join the occasion.

“We have extended our invitation and we are waiting for them to reply.

“We do not really know the actual strength of their fencers. But, it will be a good exposure for our young fencers to cross swords against their peers from the republic,” Mok said.

Despite the absence of several top competitors at the recent one-day meet, it was a nail-biting affair especially in the Under-16 section.

The Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) quartet of Shatyavanan B. Murthy, Muhammad Aqil Annuar, Nurul Ismanor Shafira and Muhammad Aliff Luqman Roslee suffered the agonising defeat of losing by only one point in two encounters.

They settled for third spot as they went down 44-45 to the eventual champions The Untouchables and runners-up The Bleeders.

The Untouchables led by Lim Zhou Zhi stayed undefeated in the round robin contest against four other teams in the fray.

After Muhammad Zariff Mohd Zaini opted to skip the competition, Lim displayed outstanding work rate to guide his side with the services of Vinnoth Madhurei and Yap Charn Wah to victory.

Meanwhile, Ampang Fencing Centre (AFC) also had a fruitful outing as the top trio of David Estrada, Raja Aiman Ariff and Feagan Ng as they went on to bag the Under-10 section.

RESULTS

- Under-10:
Semi-finals: AFC 1 (David Estrada, Raja Aiman Ariff, Feagan Ng) bt AFC 2 (Segio Avilla, Archand, Raja Ikmal Taufik) 27-18; The Invincibles (Trsitan Cheng, James Tupling, Nazrin) bt The Gladiators (Zharif Shahryn, Lim Jin Quan, Ashwin Selvan) 27-21
Final: AFC 1 bt The Invincibles 25-18

- Under-12
Semi-finals: The Slayers (Bryan Mok, Tristan Cheng, Vinnoth Madhurei) Bye; The Swift Attack (Ho Ch’ng Tyne, Wilson Chin, Ishaal Adrian) bt G.I. Joe (Connor Liam, Ian Wong, Iqbal Ali) 36-13
Final: The Slayers bt The Swift Attack 36-22

- Under-16: 1. The Untouchables (Lim Zhuo Zhi, Vinnoth Madhurei, Yap Charn Wah); 2. The Bleeders (Andrew Mok, Calvin Ong, Issac Tan); 3. BPSS (Shatyavanan B. Murthy, Muhammad Aqil Annuar, Nurul Ismanor Shafira, Muhammad Aliff Luqman Roslee)