Elle Koh anchors Singapore women’s epee team to historic bronze medal at Asian Games
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Elle Koh (right) of Singapore getting mobbed by her teammates after securing a 42-41 win in the team epee quarter-finals at the Asian Games on Sept 25.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
- Singapore women’s epee team won a historic bronze medal at the Asian Games after a dramatic comeback victory over Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals.
- Elle Koh anchored the team, overcoming a large point deficit and scoring the winning golden point in sudden-death overtime.
- The team’s success marks a milestone with multiple medals won at the Games, including a silver and bronze in individual events, raising Singapore’s fencing profile.
AI generated
NAGOYA – Watching her teammates chase a deficit during their women’s epee team quarter-final on Sept 25, Singapore’s Elle Koh reached out for a cooling pad and pressed it over her face.
The 19-year-old was feeling the heat despite the air-conditioning working to its full effects at the Aichi Sky Expo.
Twice she had been on the piste already, with the second of her bouts in the team quarter-final against Uzbekistan leaving the Republic with a daunting 11-point deficit.
As her father and coach Henry Koh barked out instructions, she wore the look of defeat.
It would not have helped that her performance in the individual epee three days earlier would have been on the back of her mind too. Then, she was distraught after bowing out in the quarter-finals and declined media interviews.
A dejected Elle Koh of Singapore after losing to Japan’s Tamaki Terayama during the Asian Games women’s epee individual quarter-finals at the Aichi Sky Expo Hall on Sept 22.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
As she stepped back onto the piste for a third time on Sept 25, the scoreboard read Uzbekistan 37 Singapore 29.
Being the anchor – the one who fences in the team event’s final bout – Koh had to turn on the heat.
With her teammates shouting and screaming from the sidelines and the stands, Koh chipped away at the deficit, point by point. By the end of regulation time, she had hauled Singapore level.
Then, with the score tied, Koh held her nerve in sudden-death overtime and landed the golden point to complete a remarkable 42-41 comeback win.
Elle Koh (left) of Singapore landing the hit which secured a win over Uzbekistan in the women’s epee team quarter-final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games on Sept 25.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
The victory by Koh, Kiria Tikanah Abdul Rahman, Esther Tan and Filzah Hidayah Nor Anuar over Uzbekistan’s Malika Khakimova, Dilnaz Murzataeva and Sanam Nazarova was historic too as it guaranteed Singapore’s first Asiad team medal in epee.
The Republic were seeded first based on performances in the individual event, and had received a bye to the quarter-finals.
With both losing semi-finalists awarded bronze medals, the quartet were upbeat despite the 45-35 semi-final defeat by the last edition’s champions South Korea – comprising individual epee champion Song Se-ra, Lim Tae-hee, Yang Seung-hye and Lee Hye-in – who then lost 45-28 to China in the final.
Elle Koh (left) of Singapore in action against Uzbekistan in the women’s epee team quarter-finals at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi Sky Expo in Nagoya, Japan on Sept 25.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Koh, who revealed that she learnt she would be the team anchor only 10 minutes before the quarter-final, said: “I felt super, super nervous (before the last bout).
“I was dissociating and trying to breathe, and I was feeling so nervous. I’ve come back from point deficits in team (events) before, and at that point, it was just like a do or die.
“I just had to give it my all. So I just tried my best.”
On how she felt in the last days after the individual event, she said: “I felt really, really sad because… I really wanted a medal. To come back against Uzbekistan and get the medal after that individual performance, I think it was very much like a full-circle moment. I’m really, really proud of us.”
The Republic’s fencers have already secured three medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. On Sept 22, Kiria won Singapore’s first-ever fencing silver medal at an Asiad in the women’s epee. A day later, Maxine Wong won her first individual fencing medal at the quadrennial event, securing bronze in women’s foil after a semi-final loss to Japan’s Yuka Ueno.
Singapore’s Kiria Tikanah hugging teammate Elle Koh after beating Irina Bakaldina of Kazakhstan during the Asian Games women’s epee individual quarter-finals at the Aichi Sky Expo Hall on Sept 22.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Lim Wei Wen won the Republic’s first Asiad medal in the sport in 2014 when he claimed the men’s epee bronze.
On Sept 25, the Singapore men’s foil team of Samuel Robson, Raphael Tan, Keyon Loo, Zephaniah Kiew bowed out in the quarter-finals after a 45-27 loss to China’s Lyu Weiqiao, Xu Jie and Zeng Zhaoran. Japan beat Hong Kong 45-36 to claim the men’s foil team title.
The women’s foil team comprising Amita Berthier, Wong, Stephanie Lee and Cheung Kemei will be next in action on Sept 26.
Singapore’s Elle Koh (right) receiving a hug and kiss from her father and coach Henry after a 42-41 win over Uzbekistan secured at least an Asian Games bronze medal in the women’s epee team quarter-finals at Aichi Sky Expo in Nagoya, Japan on Sept 25.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Coach Henry said after the victory that he was delighted with his epee fencers.
“I’m just really grateful that this time we’ve been able to achieve this milestone because that silver medal for Kiria is like the best ever result we’ve ever had, and to win not one but two medals for the women’s epee team, that’s just amazing. I’m over the moon,” he added.