Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifying
By jean malanum
FILIPINO FENCERS Armand Bernal, Harleen Orendain and Joanna Franquelli failed to secure berths in the Athens Olympic Games yesterday, losing to world-class opponents in the Asia-Oceania qualifying competitions at the PhilSports Arena.
Bernal, a veteran of the 2001 Southeast Asia championships, bowed to Kyrghystan’s Evgeniy Chigrin, 8-15, in the first round of the men’s epee division ruled by Thailand’s Sirirok Rathprasert, who earned the trip to the Greek capital following a 15-13 victory over Kuwait’s Hassen Hassan.
Orendain, a member of the developmental pool who saw action in the 2003 Vietnam SEA Games, was eliminated in the first round of the women’s epee division, losing to Thailand’s Siritada Chouchokkul, 11-15.
But Chouchokkul missed the Olympic slot to New Zealand’s Jessica Beer, who scored a 15-8 win in their final match.
Franquelli, who shifted to fencing after retiring from the national basketball squad, lost her first-round match to Hong Kong’s Tsz Ki Chow, 7-15, in the women’s sabre category.
Chow, who together with Japanese Madoka Hisage qualified for Athens, met in the finals where the Japanese prevailed, 15-8.
"We’re happy with the performance of our athletes. They put up a good fight, malakas lang talaga ang mga kalaban nila," said Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Amateur Fencers Association president Celso Dayrit.
"We are hoping that luck will come our way in the final day of the Olympic qualifying," added Dayrit, who is pinning his hopes on Wally Mendoza and Emerson Segui in today’s competitions in the men’s foil and men’s sabre.
Another local fencer, Veena Nuestro, is also seeing action in the women’s foil.
"The competition in the women’s foil is very tough, but in the men’s foil and sabre, we may pull off a surprise," said Dayrit. "Our athletes have trained hard for this Olympic qualifying and they are ready for the tough challenge ahead."
Mendoza, gold medalist in the 2001 and 2003 SEA Games, was the best-placedFilipino in the 2002 Busan Asian Games at sixth place. He has beaten 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medalist Kothny Wiradech of Thailand.
Wiradech has already qualified for the Athens Games this August.
Segui, who finished seventh in the 2002 Busan Asian Games, was a member of the men’s foil team that won the gold in last year’s SEAG while Nuestro won the women’s foil silver in the same tournament.
Only two Filipino fencers have competed in the Olympic Games, which introduced the regional qualifying in 1995. They are Percy Algers, gold medalist in the 1997 Jakarta SEAG and Asian Fencing Championships who competed in the men’s sabre event in the 1988 Seoul Games, and Walter Torres, gold medal winner in the 1991 Manila SEAG who took part in the men’s foil in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
