'Thank you, daddy': S'pore fencer Berthier dedicates Olympic qualification to late father

SINGAPORE - The moment Amita Berthier scored the match-winning point, she collapsed onto the piste and five years of emotion was unleashed in a primal scream.

The 20-year-old on Sunday (April 25) became the first Singaporean fencer to qualify for the Olympic Games, after beating the host nation's Yana Alborova 15-14 in the women's foil final at the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

But her win had an even deeper personal meaning.

The last time she was in Tashkent in 2015, she was 15 and placed 12th at the World Cadet Fencing Championships. It was also one of the last times she competed with her father Eric watching from the stands. He died in a workplace accident less than a year after that competition.

Describing her winning moment in Tashkent, Berthier told The Straits Times in a phone interview: "My first thought was: 'Thank you daddy'.

"This was for him. I made a promise five years ago when he passed that I would get to the Olympics, and I knew he was there with me, watching over me the whole day today."

Her mother, Uma, watching from Singapore, told ST: "She has always kept the memory of her father going within her, and she's found solace and strength from it.

"Before this competition, I told her to just remember those happy moments and remember that he is there with you, and so am I."

If the serendipity of the location of Berthier's triumph was not remarkable enough, she also had to fight through the pain barrier to come back from the brink of defeat to beat her opponent 15-14 in an incredibly tense final, to earn her ticket to the July 23-Aug 8 Tokyo Games.

After taking a 13-10 lead, Berthier was dealt a blow when Alborova struck her left ankle, which she had injured in the semi-final. With the Singaporean struggling, the Russia-born athlete, who won team gold at the European Games in 2015, then raced to a 14-13 lead.

But her never-say-die attitude saw Berthier dig deep to pull off a late comeback of her own and win the next two points and the bout.

"I think that was the most intense bout of my career so far," said Berthier. "I can't even describe it. My main priority (towards the end) was to stay calm. Then I looked at my coach and he wasn't worried, so I wasn't either."

Before Berthier's feat, James Wong and Ronald Tan were the only Singaporean fencers to compete at the Olympics - both featured in the foil and epee events at the Barcelona Games in 1992 - but they did not have to qualify then and earned their berths by virtue of being Singapore's top fencers.

Berthier's success comes on the back of a long journey paved with plenty of sacrifices.

Two years after her dad died, she decided to pack her bags to study and hone her skills at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, the United States.

There, the former junior world No. 1 even put off her second year of studies to train full-time. The titles have followed since as in March, she claimed a bronze in the women's individual foil at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) fencing championships, helping Notre Dame to the overall title.

She has also won back-to-back gold medals in the women's individual foil at the SEA Games in 2017 and 2019, and won a team foil in the latter edition as well. But all those medals pale in comparison to qualifying for sports' grandest stage.

"I couldn't stop crying," said Uma, on the moment her daughter scored the winning point in the final.

"It was a hard journey, and it still is. But she's had great support from her university, from her coaches, friends and fellow fencers, and it felt like the whole world was behind her."

Tears were also shed in Tashkent the day before the competition, when Amita received a video from Joseph Engert, who coaches her when she is back in Singapore. The video featured messages of support from coaches and fellow fencers - from Japan to Egypt, Ukraine and other countries - whose paths she had crossed during her fencing journey.

"Yeah, that made me cry, for sure," said Berthier with a chuckle.

"Thinking about everything, I'm pretty overwhelmed and kind of out of words. This has always been my dream, but now I'm there I feel a bit dumbfounded."

Berthier is joined in Uzbekistan by Simon Lee (men's epee), Kiria Tikanah Abdul Rahman (women's epee), Kevin Chan (men's foil), Jolie Lee (women's sabre) and Choy Yu Yong (men's sabre).

Choy, 23, placed sixth after he was beaten 15-7 by Uzbekistan's Sherzod Mamutov on Sunday. Lee, 18, was defeated 15-12 by Saudi Arabia's Jawad Al-Dawood in the last eight.