Catantan misses trip to Tokyo

MANILA, Philippines — Filipina fencer Samantha Catantan fell short of a trip to Tokyo as she settled for the bronze medal in the Asia Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan yesterday.

Catantan came tantalizingly close to battling for the gold in the women’s individual foil and a ticket to the coming Olympiad when she reached the semis following a 10-6 win over Cheng Hsin of Chinese-Taipei.

But the 19-year-old Penn State standout couldn’t sustain the charge and absorbed a 10-15 defeat to top-seeded home bet Yana Alborova to kiss her Olympics hopes goodbye.

Singapore’s Amita Berthier, the reigning two-time Southeast Asian Games champion, later edged Alborova for the gold, 15-14, to become her country’s first female fencer to qualify for the Summer Games in July.

Catantan shared third-place honors with Lebanon’s Mona Shaito, who bowed to Berthier in their side of the semis, 4-15.

“Heads up, she gave a good fight. Just keep working hard and she’ll get it soon,” coach Amat Canlas said of Catantan.

The Pinay ace won five of six assignments in Pool 2 to advance to the knockout stage as fourth seed. She took a bye in the Round-of-16 then hurdled Hsin to reach the medal rounds.