PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – It felt like a good day for top Filipina fencer Samantha Catantan, but it proved to be otherwise.
Catantan failed to defend her women’s foil individual crown in the Southeast Asian Games after sustaining a left knee injury just before her finals match at the Chroy Changvar Convention Center here on Friday, May 12.
Wary of aggravating her injury, Catantan settled for silver by default as she opted to surrender her gold-medal match against Singapore’s Maxine Wong.
“I had a good feeling the whole day,” said Catantan, who went unbeaten in the pool stage after disposing of her foes from Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore. “I felt I had a shot at the gold medal today.”
But tragedy struck for the Penn State University standout near the end of her 15-6 semifinals win over Singapore’s Kemei Cheung.
Catantan said she heard a pop when she bent her left knee after leading 13-5 against Cheung and officials needed to temporarily halt the match as she laid on the floor crying in pain.
The former UAAP MVP managed to stand up and score two more points to secure the victory before she was stretchered on the way out of Hall B.
“I wanted to play [in the finals] but they convinced me out of it because my injury might get worse,” said Catantan, who beat Wong in Vietnam for the Philippines’ lone fencing gold in the SEA Games last year.
“Very sad. I’m still very happy representing the Philippines, always been an honor. I’m just super sad that I was not able to try to fight for the gold for the Philippines.”
Catantan now hopes that her injury is not as severe as it looks as she begins her quest to punch her ticket to the 2024 Paris Games.
She is set to compete in the Asian Fencing Championships in China in June and in the World Fencing Championships in Italy in July.
“Hopefully it is not something serious because this year is very important for qualifying for 2024 Olympics,” said Catantan said. – Rappler.com
