Fencers prick Thais in epee event

The national fencing team dealt Thailand a stinging defeat yesterday when its men’s epee squad edged the fancied Thais, 45-42, to bag the gold medal in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games at the San Juan Gymnasium.

Wilfredo Vizcayno Jr. foiled individual epee gold medalist Siriroj Ratthaprasert of Thailand in the last bout of the finals match to seal the victory for the Filipinos.

The other members of the team were Avelino Victorino,Jr., Armando Bernal, and actor Richard Gomez.

In a match that seemed like a David versus Goliath, the 5-foot-5 Filipino fencer outwitted the 6-foot-2 Thai champion in the last bout before a delighted home crowd.

The Filipinos led most of the match, 14-9, until Ratthaprasert stepped into the sixth bout. He rattled off 12 points off Victorino Jr., who only managed to score six points, to give Thailand a one-point cushion, 21-20. Heading to the last bout, the hosts forced a 36-all count until Vizcayno came through with the decisive points.

With the epee team’s win, the RP fencing squad had already matched its gold medal haul in the Vietnam SEA Games, where it snared four.

Seeded third in event, the Philippines thrashed Brunei, 45-19, then pummeled Vietnam, 45-28, to face Thailand in the gold medal match. Thailand, on the other hand, won over Singapore, 44-36, in their semifinals encounter.

The Philippines earlier lost to Thailand, 36-45, in women’s team sabre event that saw Thai Nuanchan Phimkaeo dominate silver medalist Joanna Franquelli, 10-3, going into the sixth round. The Filipinos, who fell behind by as many as 12 points, cut the deficit after Jocelyn Naval scored 10 points in the eighth round to make it, 33-40.

Thailand, however, fell to Vietnam, 31-45. Thailand took control of the tempo of the match after three bouts only to falter in the succeeding bouts. Vietnam started to pull away in the sixth bout.