Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s fencers had an impressive outing at the 1st Borneo Fencing Championships held in Miri, Sarawak last week.
They returned with one gold, two silvers and three bronzes in the four-day competition featuring other fencers from Sarawak, Indonesia and Brunei.
Adam Nicholas Lindbichler was the toast of the team by winning the gold medal in the men’s individual sabre event. In a thrilling final, he won on the last point against his Bruneian opponent to take the title.
The Singapore-based Adam, who was the first Sabahan fencer to win two golds at the Shenzhen Open Championships in China 10 year ago, hopes to inspire more young Sabahans to take up fencing as a sport.
The team’s silvers were won by Louis Chow Ming Liang in the men’s foil individual event and Oh Kah Giok in the women’s sabre individual event while the bronze medallists were Wong Jia Xi in the men’s epee individual, Ronald Sylvester in men’s sabre and Teo Zhe Bin, who specifically flew in from Vancouver, Canada with his own expenses to join the team, delivered the other bronze in the men’s foil individual event.
Sabah Fencing Association (SFA) president Datuk Alex Sham, congratulated the team for the outstanding performance and thanked the organisers, sponsors, coaches, and officials for their hard work and dedication.
He hoped the success will motivate more people to support and promote the sport of fencing in the State and the country.
