Singapore fencers strike SEA Games gold; 15-year-old Elle Koh retains epee crown, debutant Samuel Robson wins men's foil

PHNOM PENH: This time around, there will be no cat as a present for 15-year-old Elle Koh.

But there would be a gold medal once again as the teenager defended her individual epee title at the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games on Saturday (May 13).

Koh beat Vietnam’s Vu Thi Hong 15-10 in the event final to retain her title from the Hanoi Games. 

"I was definitely surprised that I could defend my title. And I came into this competition extremely nervous because I knew that people kind of expected me to defend my title and I put pressure on myself to try to win again," she told reporters.

"I was also very nervous because I recently got injured and so I was trying to make sure that I could fence well, while not injuring myself further."

Elle made her debut at the Hanoi Games last year, beating compatriot Kiria Tikanah in the final. She made a deal with her parents that if she won a medal in an individual tournament overseas, they would get her a pet. 

But before the Games, she convinced her parents - national epee partner coach Henry Koh and Fencing Singapore's president Juliana Seow - to adopt a cat, which she named Cookie.

"Actually, no I haven't spoken (to them about what I would get if I won). But I got an iPad recently. I guess that counts!" said Elle with a laugh.

The 15-year-old Koh had edged out compatriot Kiria 12-11 in the semi-finals, in a repeat of last year’s gold medal match. Kiria, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics, took joint-bronze.

When Elle looked to have picked up a slight injury with the scores tied at 11-11, her teammate came over with cold spray to help her out.

"I wouldn't say that because of those couple of sprays that she won. Before we are opponents, we are teammates first," said Kiria. "Just because it is an individual sport, doesn't mean that you don't have your team behind you."

"I was extremely sad because I knew we had to meet in the semi-finals, and fencing your teammate earlier than the finals was quite disappointing for me," added Elle. "She was definitely the hardest opponent I had to fence."

In the men's foil final, 17-year-old Samuel Robson, making his SEA Games debut, outclassed Sammuel Tranquilan of the Philippines 15-3. 

"This gold medal is basically a culmination of my efforts over the past ten years and it is a milestone that I'm very happy to achieve," said Samuel.

This brings Singapore’s total medal haul from fencing at the Games to five golds, one silver and four bronzes so far.