Fencer Elle Koh clinches Singapore’s first epee title at Junior World Cup
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Elle Koh (right) and Henry Koh, her father and coach, after the 18-year-old became the first Singapore fencer to clinch a Junior World Cup title since Amita Berthier in 2017.
PHOTO: FENCING SINGAPORE
Follow topic:
- Elle Koh won Singapore's first epee title at the Junior World Cup with her victory in Bahrain on Jan 18.
- The 18-year-old dominated her matches, defeating opponents from Turkey, Chinese Taipei and Russia.
- This is Singapore's first Junior World Cup title since 2017, when Amita Berthier won a foil title in Cuba.
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SINGAPORE – With her victory in Manama, Bahrain, on Jan 18, Elle Koh became the first Singaporean fencer to clinch an epee title at a Junior World Cup.
At the Khalifa Sports City Stadium, the second seed beat top-seeded Farah Mahfouz of Egypt 15-6 to win the gold, which is a first individual title for a Singaporean fencer at a Junior World Cup since Amita Berthier’s foil title in Cuba in 2017.
The 18-year-old’s victory comes after a successful SEA Games campaign in Thailand, where she won the women’s epee crown for the third time in a row and was also part of the quartet who clinched the women’s epee team event.
On her win, Koh said: “It is amazing and it hasn’t sunk it yet... I’m very happy that I was able to achieve this and I’m glad that the momentum in my fencing has continued since last year.
“What makes this gold more special is because my last Junior World Cup, which was right before the (SEA) Games, was the Hong Kong Junior World Cup, where I got second, so this time I’m glad I could one-up it and win the title.”
Her dad and coach Henry Koh said: “(This win) is a combination of a lot of work and determination that we’ve put in over the last decade, so it’s a nice achievement.
“It’s a small step towards the bigger target in the long run, which is to win an Olympic medal and it’s just a very, very good feeling to know that we are on the right track.
“It’s nice to be able to say that she is breezing past her opponents and none of them actually scored more than eight points against her in the 15-point matches, which is a rarity... She was really having a very good day, but I would never underestimate any of the opponents.”
Koh had won all six of her pool-stage matches and received a bye in the round of 64.
She then beat Turkey’s Nisan Dincel 15-7 in the round of 32, before breezing past Chinese Taipei’s Ariel Lin 15-5 in the last 16.
After making swift work of Russia’s Taisiya Larkina (15-4) in the quarter-finals, she beat another Russian Lilana Cherchesova 15-8 in the semi-finals.
Koh will return to Singapore for three days before she competes at the Grand Prix in Qatar from Jan 23 to 25.
She has also set a target of winning gold at the Asian Juniors in Jakarta in February and a medal at the World Junior Championships in Brazil in April.
Koh said: “Hopefully I can win at the Asian Juniors... I’ve had a track record of winning third place twice, once in 2023 and once in 2025. If I could get a World Junior medal or even win, I’d be really, really happy.”
In the women’s junior team epee event in Bahrain, the team comprising Koh, Esther Tan, Jade Lim and Denise Seah finished fourth, behind champions Turkey, runners-up Hong Kong and Russia.
Looking ahead to the Sept 19-Oct 4 Asian Games in Japan, Koh added: “I think the team has a chance to get a medal. Any medal would be monumental and such an accomplishment, so I’m really working hard and training hard to do well then.”
