PHNOM PENH —Defending champion Samantha Catantan injured her knee after securing a seat in the finals, thereby settling for a silver medal in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games’ fencing tournament at Hall D of the OCIC Wedding Center in Chroy Changvar District here.
Catantan’s woes started when she fell on the mat, moments after securing a point that sent her into the women’s foil finals.
A cartilage seemed to have popped behind the back of her left knee when she moved after she lunged at semis foe Kemei Chung of Singapore.
After a short rest, Catantan still found the courage to continue as she took the last two points to beat Chung, 15-6, and set up a return showdown with her last year’s opponent Maxine Wong, also of Singapore.
Sadly, Catantan never got to play a rematch with Wong, who eventually won the gold medal after the country’s top Filipina fencer conceded on the advice of her coach and medical personnel, who told her to not make her injury any worse.
Catantan, with her knee wrapped in bandage, followed the advice, and no longer fought Wong in what could have been an exciting finals rematch.
”We’re still not sure about the injury. Pero, may pumutok nu’ng pag-atras ko. Pag-bend ko ng knees ko, may pumutok. So most likely ACL. Pero, kanina, nakatayo pa ako. So, hopefully, it’s not something serious. Kasi, very important po itong year sa akin, para mag-qualify sa Paris Olympics,” said Catantan, who fought back tears, after she was wheeled back to the auditorium to meet Wong, and formally concede the gold to the Singaporean on top of the fighting platform.
National coach Ramil Endriano said they were waiting for the showdown with Wong to happen again.
“Inaabangan namin ang rematch nila. Kasi sila rin ang naglaban sa finals last year. Tapos, nangyari ito,” said Endriano, who added that this is the first time for Catantan to have such an injury.
Catantan, who flew from the United States days before her matches, was in good shape when she swept her five-game assignment in the pool stage.
After that, she won over Vietnamese bet Luu Thi Thanh Nhan, 15-2, in the quarterfinals before facing Chung.
Philippine Fencing Association president Richard Gomez, who was in the crowd with Philippine Sports Commission commissioner Wawit Torres, felt heartbroken on Catantan’s situation. They were at her side with her sister Janna Catantan, when Sam was getting medical treatment.
“It’s very heartbreaking for me to see my athletes not able to compete in the finals. It’s painful for me to see our athletes giving up the gold that’s supposed to be ours,” said Gomez.