Korean fencers bag two golds

MANILA, Philippines - Korea picked up two more gold medals as You Jae Yeun and Park Su Young pulled off a pair of scary wins in the Asian Cadet and Junior Fencing Championships at the Philsports Arena in Pasig yesterday.

You fended off Kazakhstan’s Yuliya Zhivitsa to eke out a 15-13 decision in their duel for the individual junior women’s saber gold in the event organized by the Fencing Confederation of Asia and the Philippine Fencing Association.

Park also pulled off a cliffhanger, edging Hiroko Hagiwara of Japan, 15-14, for the individual juniors epee gold in the 10-day meet backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Park earlier dominated Malaysia’s Koshua I-Jie, 15-8, and Chinese Taipei Lai Chun Ying, 15-8, but had to withstand Hagiwara’s stubborn stand to prevail.

Hagiwara, on the other hand, went through a pair of tough matches, nipping Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Kurbanov, 15-13, in the quarterfinals and then shading Korea’s Son Hee Tae, 15-13, in the semis.

You snatched a 15-14 decision over Sirawalai Starrat of Thailand in the quarters then overwhelmed Eriko Ueno of Japan, 15-5, in the semis of the event, which drew the participation of the best fencers in the region as well as in Oceania.

The tournament, for aged 20 years old and below and is free to the public, stakes 96 medals in 24 events.   – Joey Villar