Samantha Catantan posted a top 20 finish in the individual foil event of the 2021 World Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships held in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday.
Catantan previously finished with the bronze in NCAA Division I Fencing National Championships. She ended in 20th place after exiting in the direct elimination Round of 32 against USA’s May Tieu, 8-15, on the junior women’s side.
The Penn State freshman earlier defeated Turkey’s Almila Birce Durukan, 15-10, in the previous round to set the showdown with the American.
Catantan finished at 17th place after the pools, winning five of her six bouts in the ranking round.
Lance Tan, on the other hand, ended the championship in 23rd place after a strong fight against 2018 Youth Olympics silver medalist Kenji Bravo, also of the USA, in the Round of 32 of the junior men’s division.
The Sacred Heart sophomore tried to follow up his 15-11 win over Netherlands’ Suhayl Nawar. Bravo then pulled away in that second round bout to send the Filipino out with a similar 8-15 loss.
Tan was seeded 23rd heading into the knockouts after taking four victories in his six matches in the pools.
Annika Santos joined Catantan in the Round of 64, but lost to Russia’s Vitalina Anaschenkova, 1-15, to end up at 58th place.
Daena Talavera completes the contingent with a 69th place with a defeat in the first round against Ireland’s Kaitlyn McGillione-Moore, 11-15.
