Singapore epee fencer Elle Koh vaults to top spot in junior world rankings

SINGAPORE – While scrolling through her Instagram feed last week, national fencer Elle Koh received a pleasant surprise when she came across a post by her friend, Egyptian fencer Farah Mahfouz.

Farah was celebrating her rise to world No. 3 in the women’s junior epee world rankings and one of the photos in her post was a screenshot of the latest standings.

To Koh’s astonishment, her name sat at the top with 111 points, ahead of second-ranked American Natalya Cafasso, who has 105 points.

The 18-year-old then checked the International Fencing Federation website to verify the rankings and it finally sank in after Fencing Singapore congratulated her on her achievement.

Previously ranked world No. 2, the teenager climbed to the top after Latvia’s reigning epee junior world champion Sofija Prosina became ineligible for the junior rankings for the 2026-27 season, as she turns 20 in 2026.

Koh is now only the second Singaporean to summit the fencing world rankings, following foilist Amita Berthier, who achieved the feat in 2019.

She said: “Truthfully, nothing has changed since I reached world No. 2. So, while I have earned the points that contribute to my ranking as world No. 1, I do take it with a grain of salt. However, I am grateful that I can start the next junior season as world No. 1, and now, for the next season, I plan to truly earn the world No. 1 title.”

The seven-gold SEA Games champion’s highlights last season include becoming the first Singaporean fencer to claim an epee title at a Junior World Cup, with her victory in Manama, Bahrain, in January. She attributed her strong showings to competing with a mindset to give her all, as well as support from her parents, coaches and Fencing Singapore.

Becoming world No. 1 was never a goal that Koh set for herself, and while she noted that it was a nice achievement that marked some of her performances, she also stressed that she does not want to feel pressured to maintain or improve her world ranking every time she competes.

Acknowledging that she still has more to learn, she hopes that with more experience, she will be able to enjoy her fencing without worrying too much about her results, which she feels is key to performing well.

This is a mindset she is carrying into the upcoming Asian Games at Aichi-Nagoya from Sept 19 to Oct 4.

With their confidence boosted by a historic joint bronze in the epee women’s team event at the Asian championships in June, Koh and her teammates are targeting a medal at the Asiad. However, her emphasis will be on her preparation, especially with multiple overseas training camps coming up.

“I am actually looking forward to training hard and getting stronger so that eventually when the Asian Games comes, I can feel like I’ve done my best to prepare for this.

“I just want to compete freely and know that no matter the result, I have done my due diligence to train for it and there is no moment I regret.”

Fencing Singapore vice-president Daniel Lim hailed Koh as an inspiration for showing that being among the world’s best is attainable for a local fencer.

He also acknowledged that her success is a combined effort of her support system, which includes her father and coach Henry Koh.

Lim said: “What stands out most is how grounded Elle remains – she focuses on the process rather than the ranking, which gives her immense potential and explains why she is already thriving on the senior international stage...

“Seeing a local coach guide a local athlete to world No. 1 proves our homegrown pathways can succeed internationally. On our end, it’s a clear reminder that as our fencers raise the bar, we must work even harder to give them the backing they need.”