National junior number one Justin Ong stood head and shoulders above the field of Men’s Foil fencers to emerge champion on 13 April. After breezing through the preliminary rounds, he eventually beat Benedict Lee from Meridian JC 15-6 in the finals. Justin, a year one Raffles Institution student said “it is a good feeling to win the A division men’s foil title and I hope to achieve more for my new school”. Asked if he felt any pressure to win the men’s foil title, he remarked “the pressure was self driven as I was determined from the start to perform well and I am very glad I managed to do it.” 

In the Women’s Epee event, Rania Rahadja secured the solitary gold for Hwa Chong Institution in this year’s competition. A year two student, Rania used her reach and experience to good effect and defeated club mate Celine Chong in the finals 15-8. Rania who also secured a bronze in Monday’s competition in the Women’s Foil category was delighted with her performance. She said “ its always a great feeling to win a medal but to do it for the school you represent is very special”.

The last event of the day saw Charlotte Teo from Raffles Institution defeat National team mate Yeo Mei Li from Meridian JC in an exciting final. Cheered on by her team mates, Charlotte displayed composure at critical moments to overcome Mei Li 15-12. Charlotte said: ”it really depends on who is fencing better on a given day because both of us understand each other’s game plan so well.” She added: I have definitely benefited from all the overseas competitions I have competed at lately, and the experience helped me stay composed and gave me the confidence to change my strategy midway through the final”.

The National Inter School Fencing Championships is taking place at the Clementi Sports Hall from April 11 - 15, 2011. This is the sixth year Fencing Singapore is organising an inter school fencing event and the first year it is recognised by CCAB as an official CCA sport in schools. The B and C Division competition will begin on Wednesday.