Finding a new home at the UP College of Human Kinetics Gym, the UAAP Fencing Championship took off without a hitch. All schools showed great power and determination as their fencers once again took hold of their swords to fight for the pride of their respective universities.
Battling to the end: Individual Epee
Starting the day with an impressive display spirited lunges and lighting-like stabs, the men’s epee tournament highlighted the skills and talents of the rosters and showed just a glimpse of what was to come.
Fielding two fencers for the tournament, three schools rose above the rest as they quickly dominated their division. The three schools being none other than DLSU, UE, and UST who were quick to dispatch the fencers of ADMU (Michael Tan) and UP (Juan Concepcion and Armstrong Tibay). Rough patches, however, cut down the numbers of DLSU and UE as their UST counterparts were also quick to take them out. DLSU’s Rodriguez fell to UST’s Joselito Jose, 15-11, and UE’s Erigna was routed by UST’s Bernindino Aribas.
The damage done by a resurgent UST team hungry to play a part in the regaining of their lost UAAP general championship, however, did not go unnoticed by DLSU’s lone combatant Raymond Orozco and UE’s final fencer Nathaniel Perez as both were quick to switch to offense. Sadly for UE, only Orozco succeeded as he was able to fell UST’s Aribas. This however did not equate to another victory as he ultimately lost to UST’s Jose who took home the gold.
Raymund Orozco, Joselito Jose, Bernardino Aribas, and Nathaniel Perez
Besides the gold won by Jose, Aribas also took home the bronze which he shared with UE’s Perez while green and white Fencer Orozco took home the silver.
Reversed Outcome: Individual Sabre
While the first matches were filled with their own share of heartbreaks and surprises for the less fortunate teams, the men’s sabre which took place in the afternoon held a surprising twist to finally cap off the day.
Creating an intimidating lead early were none other than UST and UE, who were both initially in the position to duel once again in a repeat of the day’s earlier matches. Fate, however, had a different plan as FEU’s Andrew Raymundo and UP’s Juan Ferrer quickly ate out the lead carved by both UE and UST to deny both powerhouses the chance to compete for the gold.
Overcoming the powerhouses, both Ferrer and Raymundo engaged in a duel that could be described as the day’s highlight. Likened to the duels of the old medieval ages, both Ferrer and Raymundo gave it their best to secure the gold for their team.
Fighting like each point was the difference between life and death, both sides tried and succeeded in denying their opposition even the tiniest headway. Switching blows and lunges, it seemed UP had more to give as Ferrer finally ended the day’s tensest match with a quick counterattack to end at 15-14. The truly emotional win for UP, however, served a purpose far greater than school pride as it also acted as a tribute to UP’s Allan Salupado, who was slated to compete but sadly lost his life before the UAAP Fencing Championship.
Sabre Champion: Juan Paolo Ferrer-UP
Joining Ferrer on the podium were Raymundo who grabbed the silver along with UE’s Bruce Ng and UST’s Angelo Ramos who both shared the bronze.
