SEA Games 2023: Singapore fencers retain women’s foil team gold; six titles now in Cambodia
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Maxine Wong (from left), Tiffany Seet, Tay Yu Ling and Cheung Kemei after winning the fencing women's foil team final at the SEA Games on Monday.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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PHNOM PENH – Even after almost two decades, the feeling of winning a gold medal is a familiar one.
Tay Yu Ling was part of Singapore’s first women’s foil team who triumphed at the 2005 SEA Games – the country’s first since Choy Fong Leng in the women’s epee in 1989 – and on Monday she collected her third title and first since the 2007 edition.
Now 36, she retired from fencing after the 2010 Asian Games to focus on her other passion – she is an associate consultant for geriatric medicine at the Singapore General Hospital – but returned to the sport about four years ago after the “spark” was relit within her.
Alongside teammates Maxine Wong, 22, Cheung Kemei, 17, and debutante Tiffany Seet, 18, the quartet beat Vietnam 45-23 in the final on Monday.
Asked what it was like to be back at the top of the podium, Tay said: “It’s quite the same – the feeling of everything coming together. The hard work, sacrifice. It’s etched in your memory, you don’t forget.”
Her father Sin Hwa, 65, will attest to that. The retiree had flown to Cambodia with his son-in-law Ngee Poo to surprise Yu Ling. Work had meant he could not attend the 2005 and 2007 Games in Manila and Korat, but he was determined to be in Phnom Penh.
He said of Yu Ling, his eldest of five children: “I’m so proud of her. When she told me she wanted to start fencing again, I was shocked.
“But she still has the hunger and took no-pay leave in 2022 to train. When she decides to do something, she’s very focused on it.”
Tay, whose younger sister Yu Juan is a former wushu world champion and SEA Games gold medallist, said she was thrilled to contribute.
She added: “The younger fencers are the ones inspiring me, because they continue to write history and I’m so glad to be part of this journey. They have broken barriers that in my time we hadn’t managed to.”
Wong herself is pushing boundaries. She won the individual title on Friday and has four golds in total, having been part of the 2019 and 2022 title-winning women’s foil teams. Singapore also claimed the team gold in 2015 on home soil.
With both her golds hanging from her neck, Wong said: “This has been my goal for a long time and I’m very happy to finally being able to achieve it. I hope we can continue to defend both golds at future SEA Games.”
On Tay, she added with a smile: “We’ve worked very well as a team despite the age gap. We’ve been able to get along well, fence well as a team… Before the SEA Games, we’ve travelled to a lot of World Cups together and that helped us to bring rapport, get that experience as a team.”
Gold continued to elude the men’s sabre team as they were beaten 45-31 by defending champions Vietnam in the final, but the foursome of Dan Wei Zuo, Nicholas Loo, Lucius Loh and Jorelle See have moved a step closer. Singapore had previously never reached the final.
Dan said: “We made a big breakthrough but there’s more work to be done. The team chemistry is one of the best so far. We kept our energy and levels from start to end. It’s disappointing to fall short but we will come back strong.”
Singapore’s Cheung Kemei (right) in action against Thi Van Anh Ha from Vietnam in the fencing women foil team final during the 32nd SEA Games.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Loh, who scored the winning point against individual champion Voragun Srinualnad in their 45-41 victory over Thailand in the semi-finals, sparking wild celebrations among his teammates, said: “We pulled through together. We’re proud.”
The Republic have already matched their record haul of six fencing golds, with two final team events on Tuesday. The future looks bright but for Tay, the present is already golden.
