PHILIPPINE fencing produced a strong medal haul at the 2026 Southeast Asian Fencing Federation (SEAFF) Junior and Cadet Championships, with the country’s young athletes collecting five gold, seven silver and 13 bronze medals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Oscar del Castillo emerged as one of the Philippines’ top performers, winning gold in the Under-17 cadet men’s individual epee after previously taking silver in the Under-21 junior event.
The 16-year-old fell to Singapore’s Benjamin Lee, 15-11, in the junior final last Monday but bounced back in the cadet competition with a 15-8 victory over Vietnam’s Do Dang Khoi.
Del Castillo also helped the Philippines secure another gold in the cadet men’s team epee event, teaming up with Joaquin de Silos, Jacob Mayo and Li Jiashu.
Willa Galvez also contributed two gold medals after teaming up with Victoria Ebdane and Jodie Tan to win the junior women’s foil team event.
Galvez and Ebdane later joined forces with Yuna Canlas and Hadia del Castillo to capture the cadet women’s foil team title.
In the individual competitions, Galvez claimed bronze in junior women’s foil. She defeated Singapore’s Sita Naidu Maaravis, 15-14, in the quarterfinals before losing 15-8 to eventual champion and Malaysian national team member Suraya Rizzal in the semifinals.
Hagia del Castillo took silver in the cadet women’s foil individual event after losing 15-7 to Malaysia’s Oo Chin Yu in the final. She reached the championship bout after beating Ebdane, 15-3, in the semifinals.
Canlas also reached the final four before falling to Oo, 15-5, and settling for bronze alongside Ebdane.
Other individual bronze medalists in the cadet division were Don Geronimo in men’s epee, Jethro Chan in men’s foil and Papina Torre in women’s epee.
The Philippines added another junior team gold in men’s saber, where national team member Khiane Felipe joined Vito Coching, Drake Chung and Matthew General in winning the championship.
The country’s silver-medal tally included the junior women’s saber team of Estelliah Gilliana, Hailey Peters, Arianna Tiu and Nadelle Turiano.
Galvez, Christine May Morales and Victoria Malvar also earned silver in cadet women’s foil, while Torre, Eleina Junia and Faith Olemos finished second in cadet women’s epee.
Chung, Marcus Co Say, Erlon Mallari and Sean Ragos added another silver in cadet men’s saber, while Ryona Salvante, Elise Acuzar, Ruth Nierras and Gillana also took silver in cadet women’s saber.
The Philippines collected additional bronze medals in several team events.
Geronimo, Mayo, de Silos and del Castillo placed third in junior men’s team epee, while Canlas, del Castillo and Malvar won bronze in junior women’s foil.
Junia, Olemos, Torre and Rhiana Cruz took bronze in junior women’s epee, with Inigo Divinagracia, Lucas Palafox, Elijah Timbol and Chan adding another in junior men’s foil.
In the cadet team events, Cruz, Summer Feliciano and Chiara Guidote won bronze in women’s epee; Luis Clemente, Ynigo Estrada and Qody Omengan placed third in men’s saber; and Chan, Palafox and Yohann Roldan earned bronze in men’s foil.
The results highlighted the depth of the Philippine fencing program across both age groups as the young athletes competed against the region’s top fencers. (Adrian Co)
