Nathaniel Perez delivered Team Philippines’ first gold medal in the 2026 Southeast Asian Fencing Federation Championships after ruling the men’s individual foil event on Wednesday, October 21, in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam.
Perez, a member of the national team since 2012, defeated Malaysia’s Kaerlan Kamalanathan, 15-9, in the final to claim the gold medal.
On his way to the championship bout, Perez edged compatriot Sammuel Tranquilan in a hard-fought 15-14 semifinal victory.
Tranquilan and Malaysia’s Yu Shern Heng settled for joint third place, earning bronze medals.
“Super happy lang kasi I think I am struggling and finding my rhythm this year. Tapos after the Asian Games, which I did not do really well, we came back to the Philippines, and I was not able to train properly because I had flu the week before we left for Vietnam,” said Perez in a message to Tiebreaker Times.
“So going here sa SEAFF, I didn’t have much expectations to win gold pero I am very happy that I did,” added Perez, who also captured the SEAFF gold medal in 2024 in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Alexa Larrazabal narrowly missed out on gold after suffering a heartbreaking 14-13 defeat to host bet Tran Thi Thuy Thrin in the women’s individual event.
Before Perez’s golden triumph, the Philippines had secured silver medals through Janna Catantan in women’s individual foil and Noelito Jose Jr. in men’s individual epee. Jylyn Nicanor also bagged bronze in women’s individual saber.
Competition continues on Thursday with the team events.
