Amita Berthier beats Maxine Wong in all-Singapore women's foil final at SEA Games

BANGKOK: At 8-14 down in her SEA Games women's foil semi-final, Singapore's Amita Berthier was on the brink of elimination.

"It was just one point at a time. I knew I had the skills to do it, but it's nerve-wracking because if I made one mistake, I'd lose the whole bout."

At the Fashion Island mall’s Island Hall, that is exactly what the two-time Olympian did.

Berthier, 25, reeled off seven consecutive points to cap off a stunning 15-14 semi-final comeback against Philippines' Samantha Catantan to book her spot in the final against teammate Maxine Wong.

"I flipped a switch and I managed to make it work," she said. "And once I finished that bout, (I told myself) that gold is mine, I didn't come all that way just to lose in the final."

With momentum on her side, Berthier beat defending champion Wong 15-4 to reclaim her 2019 individual foil Games title.

"Kudos to my teammate Maxine," said Berthier. "She fenced really well today too, I'm glad we both managed to secure first and second."

This is Berthier's third individual foil gold after wins in 2017 and 2019.

This is Singapore's fourth gold won by the fencers at this edition of the Games. 

They also took a joint-bronze in the men's individual epee event on Wednesday, courtesy of Simon Lee, with compatriot and reigning champion Si To Jian Tiong eliminated in the quarter finals.

"The past few months have been mentally pretty taxing on me, especially after the Olympics last year. I had to take a little bit of a break a couple months ago for a short while, had to rethink things," said Berthier. 

"But I knew that I wasn't done yet."

Wong also had to overcome challenges to get to the final, having recently recovered from illness.

"I used a lot of energy to push through today. Of course, the coughing made it quite hard to breathe, and I was on a lot of meds and all that," said Wong.

"But I'm glad I was able to still able to prepare for the competition, still train well before the competition, and also achieve a one-two for Singapore."

On Tuesday, Singapore's fencers swept all three gold medals on offer during day one of competition as Raphael Tan, Elle Koh and Juliet Heng emerged victorious in their respective events.

Tan beat Thailand's Notethakod Wangpaisit 15-11 in the men's individual foil final, while Juliet Heng successfully defended her women's individual sabre title when she pipped Thailand's Tonkhaw Phokaew 15-14.

In a rematch of their 2022 final in Hanoi, Singapore's Elle Koh beat compatriot Kiria Tikanah 9-8 to take gold in the women's individual epee.