Fencing star Samantha Catantan was pulled out of the women’s team foil event after suffering a knee injury on Friday in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games fencing tournament at Hall D of the OCIC Wedding Center in Chroy Changvar District, Cambodia.
National coach Ramil Endriano said they wouldn’t risk it and let Catantan’s woes worsen.
“May team event pa. Pero hindi na siya makakalaro. May tatlong lalaro, pero apat sila sa lineup, at reserve na si Sam. Hindi na namin isusugal, baka lumala,” said Endriano of Catantan, the Vietnam SEAG foil gold medalist last year.
As the team skipper of the Penn State University Nittany Lions, playing in Division 1 of the US NCAA, she never got the chance to have a rematch with her nemesis Maxine Wong of Singapore, who eventually won the gold medal.
The country’s top Filipina fencer followed the advice of her coach and medical personnel and decided not to continue her duel with Wong after getting injured during her clash with Kemei Chung of Singapore in the semifinals. She settled for the silver.
(C) Coach Ronald Canlas
With Catantan sidelined, she will continue resting and preparing for her next challenges, one of which is to join the qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics next year.
To prepare, she is scheduled to compete in the Asian Fencing Championship in Wuxi, China, in June and the World Championships in Milan, Italy, in July.
By not competing in the finals, her coaches believe that Catantan will have time to rest, recover, train, and fight again.
“Sana hindi serious para makalaro ulit ako. Kasi importante po iyun. Point po iyun for Paris Olympics,” said Catantan as she fought back tears.
Catantan said she was in good condition on Friday, feeling that she had enough strength and stamina to fight and win the gold medal.
“The whole day po, ang ganda ng feeling ko. Ang ganda ng result ng first round ko. Tingin ko, kaya kong makuha iyung gold medal,” added Catantan, an accounting student at Penn State.
