Singapore fencer Maxine Wong stuns defending champion on the way to Asian Games foil bronze

NAGOYA: Sitting in the stands at the Aichi Sky Expo on Wednesday (Sep 23) were Singapore fencer Maxine Wong's three lucky charms.

At her debut Asian Games in 2018, her parents and elder sister were cheering her on as she combined with Amita Berthier, Tatiana Wong and Melanie Huang to secure a joint-bronze in the women's team foil event.

Fast forward six years to Wednesday, the trio were there to witness her clinch another bronze, this time in the women's individual foil event.

"It's really special to have them here, and their support means a lot," Wong said. "(They told me) no pressure, just have fun."

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Wong upset several higher-ranked opponents on the way to her podium finish, first beating China’s defending champion Huang Qianqian 12-10 in the round of 16. 

This is the Singaporean's first victory over Huang, having recently lost to her at the Asian Championships in June.

"Coach Oleg (Matseichuk) said something funny. He said: 'Just do the opposite of what you did at the Asian Champs.' And it worked," recalled Wong.

She then followed that up with a 15-6 victory over Hong Kong’s Daphne Chan, bronze medallist at the last Games.

Wong’s run, however, ended in the semi-finals with a 6-15 defeat by Japan’s world number 3 Yuka Ueno, who went on to win gold.  South Korea's Park Jihee finished with silver, while Wong and Uzbekistan’s Polina Volobueva took joint-bronze as losing semi-finalists are guaranteed a medal.

"Overall, she is still the better fencer," said Wong of her Japanese opponent. "Of course, I hoped to be able to go further, but I'm very happy today for the (overall) result."

In the pool round, Wong won three of her five bouts to reach the round of 32, where she defeated the Philippines' Janna Catantan 15-2.

"When we got the team bronze, we were still very young .... maybe we didn't realise the weight of it," said Wong. 

"Now at my third Asian Games, there's undeniably more pressure, even though I try to stay calm ... Today I tried to shut all that out, and focused on each match at a time."

Wong's bronze is Singapore’s second fencing medal at these Games. On Tuesday, Kiria Tikanah clinched a silver in the women's individual epee.

CONTROVERSIAL CALL

Earlier on Wednesday, Berthier lost 14-15 to Volobueva in the round of 16, but was left rueing a referee’s decision.

With the Singaporean up 14-12, referee Tadashi Hamano made a call in favour of Volobueva, despite the protestations of the Singaporean and her coach Andrea Magro. Volobueva went on to win the match 15-14.

“I take accountability for my losses, and I'm just really upset because there was nothing much more I could have done in this bout,” two-time Olympian Berthier said.

“It really just (lies) in my referee's hands, and I'm just really disappointed in him because I've seen him on the world stage, and he's actually been really good. Everybody makes mistakes, but to make a mistake that cost me at least going to the next round, just lost quite a bit of respect.”

Berthier won four of her five bouts in the pool round of the competition, before receiving a bye in the round of 32.

“I'm just really, really upset right now because I felt good and I was motivated and I knew that I had a decent chance to medal today. But it is what it is, and it just wasn't my day," she said.

The women's foil fencers, including Wong and Berthier, will return to action on Saturday in the team event.