Hangzhou 2022: Fencers fired up for future after Asiad displays

By Patrick Johnston

There were no Asian Games medals for Singapore’s talented fencers, but technical director Marko Milic said the team’s performances meant they would depart Hangzhou with plenty of belief they are on the right track to being competitive at future Olympics. 

The women’s sabre team rounded off Team Singapore’s fencing campaign in China on Friday (Sep 29) by going down 45-32 in the quarter-finals to Uzbekistan, essentially a straight shootout for a guaranteed bronze.

The quarter-final defeat was matched in Hangzhou by the women’s foil and epee teams, the men’s foil team, Amita Berthier in the individual foil and Juliet Heng in the women’s individual sabre. 

Given the women’s foil team managed a bronze at the previous Asian Games in Indonesia, it would be easy to think the performances across six days of competition at the HDU Gymnasium in China were a step back but Milic could see the bigger picture.

“I’m satisfied with the performance but not the results,” he said. “We had some targets to win some medals at the Asian Games, one or two, we had our chances but the competition is very strong. We have a few countries here who are top class. But overall performance… I see the progression.”

Singapore’s Elle Koh (left) ducks under her Uzbek opponent’s sword and lands a blow to the face during the last 16 match in the women’s individual epee. (Photo: SNOC/ Kelly Wong)

Milic has been with the Singapore team for six years and said that the belief in the squad was completely different to when he first arrived. Then, he said, Singaporean fencers saw the SEA Games as their ceiling but now they were dreaming much bigger.

Amita Berthier, 22, who was the joint flag bearer at the opening ceremony in Hangzhou, took part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and her focus was firmly on qualifying for the Paris Games next year.

While the number of quarter-final losses was disappointing, Milic pointed to the competitive displays against world class opposition from China, South Korea and Japan that would boost his charges.

“This is the main point. The culture, the belief in sports success was lacking. People want to do it but they just don’t know, is it possible, is it realistic? So this (Asian Games) is a game changer for us, we can come to this competition and have a really strong, good fight.

“Belief is something we are trying to build, to strengthen the belief that it is possible.”

Amita Berthier (left) stretches to strike her Chinese opponent in the women’s team foil contest. (Photo: SNOC/ Kelly Wong)

Proving his point, Juliet Heng showed passion and determination in the women’s sabre team event on Friday (Sep 29). The 18-year-old, who only started competing on the international stage two years ago, said she learnt a lot from competing in Hangzhou that would stand her in good stead.

​​”I had a lot of fire when I was fencing today, I was really hyped. The whole team spirit was really good. Next time we will come back for a medal, hopefully gold!”

While the squad will inevitably go through some changes, with retirements looming, Milic said the pool of talent coming through was reassuring. However, there was still room for more, as he presented the attractiveness of fencing.

“We don't have fencing in primary schools, we need to open that field to strengthen our grass roots level foundation and to have more and more talent.

“(Fencing) is something creative, always problem solving. It's just ideal. Singapore is going to be the most exciting place for fencing.”

Juliet Heng celebrates scoring a point against her Uzbekistan opponent in front of her team mates in the women’s team sabre event. (Photo: SNOC/ Kelly Wong)

The 19th Asian Games are held in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October 2023. For the latest Team Singapore coverage and news, follow Team Singapore on their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) or visit the official Team Singapore website.