Galvez, Canlas strike gold in Thailand fencing joust

MANILA, Philippines – University of the East high school fencers delivered big for the Philippines as Willa Galvez captured two gold medals and Yuna Canlas added one in the Thailand Fencing Festival Minime and Veterans Championships 2024 held over the weekend at the Diamond Hall in Zeer Rangsit, Thailand.

Galvez, who represented Canlas Fencing, dominated top seed Hei Shun Keung of Hong Kong, 15-8, in the finals of the Under-14 girl’s foil last Saturday — her second gold medal in the same category in international meet just seven months after her breakthrough victory in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

An incoming Grade 8 who turned 13 last July 16, Galvez then added on Sunday the Under-14 girl’s epee with a nail-biting 15-13 win opposite Pawichaya Thongngaram of Thailand in the finals — her first epee gold on foreign soil after settling for a silver in KL last year.

On the other hand, Canlas, an incoming freshman for the Red Warriors, captured the gold medal in Under-12 girl’s epee on the final day of competition Monday after beating Lena Xia of Singapore 10-5 in the finals. She also earned two bronze medals (U-14 and U-12 foil) in the three-day tournament.

The competition followed a tough training camp where Galvez and some 20 other Filipino fencers participated last week in Taiwan — a big help she said as it boosted her confidence after a weeklong process with some of the world-class fencers like former Olympian Ziemek Wojciechowski of Great Britain.

“I’m happy to win. It was perfect timing that after the Taiwan training camp we joined a tournament in Thailand. It gave me confidence and at the same time I was able to apply the lessons. I’m grateful and thankful to all the UE and CF coaches led by coach Amat Canlas,” said Galvez.

Galvez finished with a 4-1 record in the pooling of women’s foil following wins against Yu Wei Chen of Singapore (5-0), Yuvika Subodh Saikhedkar of India (5-1), Xu Shuoyan of China (5-0) and Yuga Fong of Hong Kong (5-2). The only blot in her pool record was a 5-3 defeat to Ella Wang of Australia.

After she got a bye in the Round-of-32 as the No. 2 seeded player in the DE — or Direct Elimination — she then proceeded to beat compatriot Lily Marguerite Juico in the Round-of-16 (15-6), Mia Pimkaew of Thailand in the quarterfinals (15-7) and Canlas in the semifinals (15-5).

Backed by Strong Group Athletics with support from Nickel Asia Corporation, NLEX, San Miguel Corporation, Rain or Shine, Pocari Sweat, Kick-Start Coffee, Smart Sports and MVP Sports Foundation, Galvez scored eight straight points to her rival’s one that turned a 6-5 deficit to a 13-7 advantage after the first 3 minutes of bout.

Galvez, who fell off the elevated piste in the final one minute of the opening round while retreating from an attack but was lucky to escape any injury, went on to score the final two points — the last was a clean attack. She let out a scream in jubilation as Canlas and Juico celebrated with her on the piste.

In epee, Galvez won all five bouts in the pools, beating local bets Pariyakorn Ingkhabaramee (5-4), Chanaka Panthet (5-4), I-yarin Jachthubber (5-4), Kanyapas Sutheesunthorntham (5-4) and Chomnapas Kwannak (5-0. As the No. 4 fencer in DE, she edged Natthida Chuwong in the Last 16 (15-7), Rattanaporn Mekchay in the quarters (15-12) and top seed Jittawan Imrang in the semis (15-13).

The other bronze medal winners in the CF contingent were Elise Acuzar in U-12 girl’s sabre, Flame Go in U-10 girl’s epee, Grey Ang in U-8 boy’s sabre and Akirra Villacin in U-8 girl’s sabre.