SEA Games 2023: Fencer Maxine Wong finally wins gold, but not the way she wanted

PHNOM PENH – Of all the ways Maxine Wong imagined winning her first individual gold medal at the SEA Games, this was definitely not on the list.

After beating Malaysia’s Surayya Rizzal 15-7 in the semi-finals, Wong turned to the piste behind her to scout her potential opponent in Friday’s foil final. She saw the familiar figure of Samantha Catantan of the Philippines, then leading Wong’s teammate Cheung Kemei 13-5.

What happened next at the Chroy Changvar International Convention and Exhibition Centre was not part of the script. Moving backwards, Catantan’s left knee buckled and she fell awkwardly, screaming in pain.

The match was halted and she received the allowed five minutes of medical treatment. She eventually got to her feet to finish the bout, prevailing 15-6 before collapsing again and was stretchered off.

Catantan, with her left leg in a cast, later limped back to the podium piste alongside Wong but the crowd inside Hall B knew there would be no rematch of the 2022 final when Catantan emerged victorious in Hanoi.

This time, the gold was Wong’s via a walkover. She received a congratulatory kiss from her mother Chan Bee Bee as she stepped off the piste. “A nice Mother’s Day present,” Chan said of her daughter’s achievement.

The Singaporean, 22, had reached the previous two finals, losing first to compatriot Amita Berthier in 2019 before the defeat by Catantan.

Wong said she was delighted to finally get the breakthrough gold, but wanted to fence against the Filipina, who is a year younger.

She noted: “Two silvers is good but I really wanted gold this time. And of course I would have wanted to face Sam and beat her in the final. That’s how we all want to win.

“Revenge is maybe a strong word. More like redeem myself after losing last year’s final.

“I was definitely confident of my chances. I was fencing well today, my form was good. I kept my focus and concentration levels very high.”

Even while waiting to see what condition Catantan would arrive in, Wong’s German coach Simon Senft was urging her to “prepare for a final” and did not want her to lose her intensity.

Wong said: “You never want to see another athlete get injured, especially something like that which looked serious. But I didn’t want to let it distract me. I still needed to get myself ready and in the right state of mind.”

Catantan said she wanted to compete in the final but her coaches and officials convinced her to forfeit as they felt it was an unnecessary risk as no one knew how badly hurt her knee was.

“Maxine wished me a smooth recovery, and I told her good luck for the rest of the competition here and next week’s Shanghai Grand Prix.”

The loss of Catantan is also a blow for the Philippines women’s foil team, runners-up to Singapore in 2022. The team event is on Monday.

Wong, who has won the team foil gold at the last two Games, said: “They were one of our biggest threats but even without Sam, I’m sure they’re still a strong team.”

After two days of fencing competition, Singapore lead the standings with three golds, one silver and three bronzes.