MANILA, Philippines – Haniel Abella and Nathaniel Perez contributed a pair of medals for the Philippines in the fencing competitions of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games on Wednesday, December 4. 

Abella clinched silver in the women’s individual epee, while Perez settled for bronze in the men’s individual foil as Filipino fencers racked up 4 medals after two days of action at the World Trade Center. 

The hosts, though, have yet to win a fencing gold with Christian Concepcion (men’s individual sabre) and Samantha Cantantan (women’s individual foil) also landing silver and bronze, respectively, in Day 1. 

But Abella was close to delivering their first gold as she came back from a 5-10 deficit against Singapore’s Kiria Abdul Rahman and narrowed the gap to 12-14 with the hometown crowd cheering for her. 

Abdul Rahman, however, kept her poise and scored the winning hit to secure the top prize. 

Singapore’s Cheryl Lym and Vietnam’s Nhu Hoa Nguyon joined Abella and Abdul Rahman in the podium as co-bronze medalists.

Perez, meanwhile, failed to capitalized on a strong start against Malaysia’s Hans Yoong as he fell short of reaching the championship round following an 11-15 loss in the semifinals. 

The 2017 SEA Games silver medalist Perez led 2-0 before fizzling out in the end. 

Yoong, though, was denied of the gold medal by Thailand’s Chornnasun Mayakarn, who hacked out a 15-14 win in their thrilling finale. 

Singapore’s Joshua Lim also won bronze alongside Perez. 

The Philippines seeks to capture that elusive gold medal as fencing action resumes on Thursday, December 5, at the same venue. – Rappler.com