Singapore fencer Kiria Tikanah wins Olympics opening bout, but bows out in table of 32
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Kiria Tikanah Abdul Rahman of Singapore (right) in action against Maria Luisa Doig Calderon of Peru in the women's epee table of 64.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
PARIS – On paper, it may have seemed like deja vu for national epee fencer Kiria Tikanah as she suffered another table-of-32 exit at a second straight Olympics.
But that is where the similarities between her two outings end. Previously in 2021, Kiria made her Games debut in an empty Makuhari Messe, a convention centre located outside of Tokyo.
On July 27, she was battling it out in one of the four pistes in the Grand Palais, an iconic cultural hub and architectural masterpiece located in the heart of Paris, which was packed with an enthusiastic French crowd.
While there was disappointment for the Singaporean as she lost 15-10 to Italy’s world No. 3 Alberta Santuccio, there were some silver linings for Kiria, ranked 72 places behind her opponent.
The 24-year-old said: “The disappointment comes a bit different this time round. The last time I was disappointed with how I fenced, but now I’m quite satisfied and I’m more disappointed by the result.
“I gave everything that I had, I left it all on the piste, I did my best. I couldn’t have done anything more different and that was the best I could do.”
She got off to a winning start at Paris 2024,
She carried that momentum into the clash against Santuccio, a silver medallist at the 2023 world championships. The score was level at 2-2 after the first period. But Santuccio’s experience prevailed as she began pulling away in the second and third periods to seal the win.
Despite the loss, Kiria will depart Paris with more confidence, more aware of her weaknesses and what she can bring to the table.
This was in stark contrast to her mindset after the Tokyo Games, where she struggled to deal with the increased expectations that came with being an Olympian.
She said: “All the other Olympians were doing top-eights, top-16s and I was top-64, (which made me think) do I even deserve to have the Olympian name if I can’t live up to how the rest of them are doing? After a defeat, I felt like I didn’t really deserve it and then it kind of snowballs.”
But she believes she has grown since then, adding: “I’m more mature now in terms of how I think and the strategies I use, happy that I managed to do it better this time round. In Tokyo, my mind was all over the place. If you had asked me what I did wrong, I would’ve had no idea. This time I’m more conscious and mature.”
Her coach Henry Koh was pleased with her performance and said: “To have put up such a fight, I’m really happy about it. It’s always bittersweet when you try your best but I think she has no regrets, she gave it her all.”
Singapore’s other fencer Amita Berthier is in action on July 28 and faces ninth seed Lauren Scruggs of the United States in the women’s foil table of 32.
This will also be Berthier’s second Games after her debut in Tokyo, where she was knocked out by Lee Kiefer in the first round. The American went on to clinch the gold.
