SINGAPORE - The Republic's fencers clinched a first women's foil junior (Under-20) gold medal at the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships early on Thursday (March 7) morning, following their 42-38 win over Japan in the final in Amman, Jordan.

The team of Amita Berthier, Maxine Wong, Tatiana Wong and Denyse Chan were seeded second and given a bye in the round of 16, and beat Kazakhstan 45-16 in the last eight.

In the semi-finals, the Republic came from behind to beat South Korea 45-32 while Japan beat Hong Kong 45-27.

Maxine and Denyse were also part of the team, with Tan Jia Lin and Rachel Lim, that lost 45-18 to Japan in the cadet (U-17) foil team final at the Dubai edition last year.

Earlier in the tournament, Berthier won the women's junior foil individual title, after beating South Korea's Park Ji-hee 15-12 in the final, while Simon Lee took a silver medal in the cadet men's epee with his 15-13 loss to Japan's Ryu Matsumoto.

Also, the cadet men's foil team of Matthew Lim, Jonathan Lim, Joel Chiu and Maximus Tio won a bronze medal, following their 45-26 semi-final loss to China.

The latest result in Amman is another feather in the cap for the Republic's talented women's foil team.

Last August, the quartet of Amita, Tatiana, Maxine and Melanie Huang clinched a joint-bronze with South Korea at the Asian Games in Jakarta. It was the first time the Republic had won a fencing team medal at the Asiad, and adds to Lim Wei Wen's bronze in the men's epee in 2014 at the same stage.

Amita, Maxine, Tatiana and Nicole Wong also won the silver at the World Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships in Verona, Italy last April. The team were seeded 13th then, but beat the higher-seeded Poland, France and Germany before losing 45-30 to the United States in the final.