Cheryl already has two team gold medals with her women's foil team from the 2005 and 2007 SEA Games and is looking to make it a hat-trick of wins this November in Palembang. (Photo: SSC/ Rebecca Chew)
After having recently bagged the silver medal at the Asian Junior Fencing Championships in March, Cheryl Wong has her eyes set on the gold at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games to be held this November in Indonesia.
While the 20-year-old was humble about her individual performance at the Asian Junior Fencing Championships, Wong was brimming with confidence when she spoke about her team which conquered the Women’s Team Foil event in the last two SEA games running, where fencing was contested, in 2005 and 2007.
"Only two people can fence in the individual events, so I might not even fence individually, it really depends on who the coach picks,” said the National University of Singapore Arts and Social Science student. “But for the team event, I am definitely fencing. We won two years in a row, and this year is going to be the third year.”
It is always good to have your enemies close by, but it is another thing if your biggest competitor is your younger sister. Having been in the sport since the tender age of 14, Wong admits that her biggest competitor is her 17-year-old younger sister, Liane Wong.
“She’s really good, and has a lot of potential, but she’s younger than me, and that’s why I hate losing to her,” admits Wong cheekily.
While she faces tough competition at home, she will also be pitting her skills against fencers from around the region at the SEA Games come November.
“Vietnam is one of the stronger countries we have to look out for at the SEA Games,” stated Wong. “Having said that, I also think the standard of fencing at the SEA Games has been somewhat constant, so hopefully I will be able to compare and see my improvement, based on this year’s games.”
Wong, who turned 20 the day before she claimed her silver medal at the Asian Junior Fencing Championships on March 9, also acknowledged that she has much more to learn and going into the senior level means stepping up on her game by leaps and bounds.
For now, the petite fencer has her sight set on the 26th SEA Games which will be held from the 11 to 25 November 2011 in Palembang and Jakarta, Indonesia.