Olympic dream vanishes for all Pinoy fencers

Filipino Walbert Mendoza was in the threshold of realizing an Olympic dream but absorbed a heart-breaking 14-15 decision to Kazakh Eugeny Frolov yesterday in their semifinal duel in the Asia-Oceania Olympic Fencing Qualifier at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Mendoza, eyeing no less than a stint in the Athens Olympiad, fought back from 0-4 down, bucked a strained left arm to force a 14-all tie and thought he had completed the stirring come-from-behind victory with a key hit.

The two-time Southeast Asian Games men’s sabre gold medallist countered Frolov’s attack with a sneaky parry reposte which Mendoza felt connected for a win that would have gained him a finals berth against Masashi Nagara of Japan where the winner will go to Athens.

In fact, Mendoza raised his hands in triumph only to get frustrated when the Korean referee ruled the hit a malparry, enabling the Kazakh bet to gain the crucial point, the win, and the finals slot to this year’s Games.

So dejected was Mendoza that he let his weapon slide down the canvas, stared at the crowd for minutes and stood stunned at the main podium.

"Sayang," said Mendoza, whose semis feat was the best by a Filipino in an Olympic qualifier.

Also bowing out were Mendoza’s compatriots Veena Nuestro and Emerson Segui.

Nuestro, a silver medal winner in the 2003 Hanoi SEAG in women’ foil, bowed to Sarah Raudkivi of New Zealand, 15-2, in direct eliminations. She actually defeated Raudkivi, 5-3, in the pooling stage but could not find the form in the main draw.

Segui, for his part, reached as far as the quarterfinals after drawing a bye in the round-of-16 but he lost to Lau Kwok King of Hong Kong in men’s foil event, joining his teammates before him (Armand Bernal, Joanna Franquellie and Harleen Orendain–in the sidelines.

"Sayang, muntik na si Wally (Mendoza)," said Celso Dayrit, who is also president of both the Philippine SEAG Organizing Committee (Philsoc) and the Philippine Olympic Committee."

Dayrit also ushered in the 2004 Sharp Asian Championships yesterday afternoon with the traditional parade of participating teams totalling to 21 countries, led by powerhouse China and Korea and contenders Japan and Kazakhstan.