The Philippine fencing team captured two gold medals in the junior division of the 2026 Southeast Asian Fencing Federation (SEAFF) Cadet and Junior Championship on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Philippine women’s foil team of Victoria Ebdane, Willa Galvez and Jodie Tan defeated Vietnam, 44-37, in the championship round at Arena TSH OCM to claim the gold medal.
The Philippine Team A reached the final after edging fellow Filipinas Yuna Canlas, Hadia del Castillo and Victoria Malvar of Team B, 29-28, in a close semifinal.
Galvez provided the biggest push for Team A in the final, outscoring Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Anh Thu, 10-1, in the fourth bout. The result turned a 9-6 Philippine lead into a 19-7 advantage.
The 15-year-old Galvez finished with 21 points, while Ebdane contributed 13 and Tan added 10 to complete the victory.
The Philippines also topped the men’s saber team event, with national team member Khiane Felipe joining Vito Coching, Drake Chung and Matthew General in a 45-40 victory over Thailand in the final.
The two championships raised the Philippines’ junior medal haul to two gold, two silver and four bronze medals.
Estelliah Gilliana, Hailey Sophia Peters, Arianna Tiu and Nadelle Turiano won silver in the women’s saber team competition.
Oscar del Castillo, who earlier secured silver in the men’s individual epee, added a bronze in the team event alongside Joaquin De Silos, Jacob Mayo and Boo Geronimo.
Other Philippine bronze medalists were Team B in women’s foil, Rhiana Cruz, Eleina Junia, Faith Olemos and Papina Torre in women’s epee, and Inigo Divinagracia, Lucas Palafox, Jethro Chan and Elijah Timbol in men’s foil.
Galvez also claimed bronze in the individual women’s foil event on Monday.
She defeated Singapore’s Sita Naidu Maaravis, 15-14, in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion and Malaysian national team fencer Suraya Rizzal, 15-8, in the semifinals.
The tournament will now shift to the cadet events, with the individual epee, foil and saber competitions scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. The team events will follow on Friday. (Adrian Co)
