By: Waylon Galvez
BANGKOK – The country’s fencing team has a long history of siblings representing the Philippines together in international tournaments, including previous editions of the Southeast Asian Games.
Past SEA Games saw the Vizcayno brothers team up for the men’s epee squad, while the Endriano brothers — Rufel and Ramil — competed in men’s foil before Ramil later teamed up with Ruperto.
Wally and Wendy Mendoza were part of the men’s and women’s saber teams, respectively, while the Nicanors had Jylyn in women’s saber and Michael in men’s foil.
In recent SEA Games, the Tipoy brothers, Felipe and Kulay, were part of the men’s foil team in the 2023 Cambodia edition, while the Catantan sisters, Paris Olympics veteran Samantha and Ysah, competed together in the women’s foil squad two years ago.
For this year’s Bangkok SEA Games, the Catantan sisters will make history as Samantha and Ysah team up with Sophia, who will be making her first appearance in the regional tournament.
Having a sibling as a teammate, according to Oniong Vizcayno, is a special experience.
“It’s a proud moment. Hindi ko actually iniisip na may teammate akong kapatid. That time (when we were teammates) naka-focus kami lahat sa laro. Pero yung nasa podium na kami, Iba ang pakiramdam kapag kasama mo ang kapatid mo. Super proud,” said Vizcayno, now a coach for the epee national team.
Catantan, who won a gold medal in the 2021 Vietnam SEA Games, a silver in the 2017 Malaysia SEA Games, and competed in the 2023 Cambodia edition, shares Vizcayno’s sentiment as she looks forward to teaming up with Ysah and Sophia.
“Dream namin na makapaglaro kami ng SEA Games together. Naalala ko yung interview recently nila. Coming here parang pareho sila hindi nila ine-expect,” said Catantan, a scholar student-athlete at Penn State University.
“Pero to be honest, with the amount of time they spent sa training nila, very hard working yung dalawa so alam kong sooner or later mangyayari talaga to, and I’m very proud of them more than anything.”
