SINGAPORE – There is a board in the home of national foil fencer Samuel Robson on which he declared his aim in 2016 to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
Now 18, the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student has a shot at realising this goal as he and four other Singaporean fencers head to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament, and one final chance to clinch a spot at the Paris Games.
The contingent will be looking to join women’s foil fencer Amita Berthier, who secured her place via individual ranking points in March.
To earn a berth for Paris at the April 27-28 continental qualifiers, Singapore’s fencers have to win their respective events.
Samuel first dreamt of competing at the Olympics when he started taking fencing seriously at the age of 10, having taken up the sport when he was around eight years old.
Speaking to the media at the Singapore Sports School on April 24, he said: “I’ve already done all that I can to prepare and so the goal is just to go there and perform what I know I can to the best of my abilities.”
Samuel has confidence in his preparations for the qualifiers, where he is the second-highest ranked exponent at world No. 69. Only Taiwanese Chen Yi-tung is ranked higher at 65th in the field of 17.
In a bid to make his maiden Olympics, the teenager had been competing on the senior international circuit, including at World Cups and Grands Prix, over the past few months to improve his world ranking.
While he failed to gain direct entry to the Olympics through the world rankings, Samuel believes the experience he has acquired over the past year, including debuts in 2023 at the Asian Games and SEA Games, where he won the individual foil gold and team silver, will be crucial for this weekend.
He added: “The pressure was higher but I was able to cope with it, so it proved I don’t lose out at the senior and international levels.”
Also hoping to make the cut for the Olympics is Singaporean women’s epee fencer Kiria Tikanah, who debuted at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.
While the odds are in her favour this time, with the world No. 64 the highest ranked among the 18 fencers in her event, the 23-year-old is working to manage the added pressure and scrutiny as an Olympian.
She said: “Even when I was competing in the last few competitions leading up to this, there was a lot of pressure because everyone is thinking, ‘You’ve been to one Olympics, you should be going to the next one’.
“I was previously the underdog... It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy (because I’m the highest ranked). Everyone will be trying to beat me, so it’s going to be tough.”
Like Samuel, Kiria also embarked on a hectic qualifying season over the past year, competing in about eight competitions and having training camps across Europe, in a bid to make the Games through the world rankings.
A table-of-32 loss at a Japan event recently proved to be an eye-opening experience, and it spurred Kiria’s determination to return to the Olympic stage and take a step closer to achieving her ambitions of becoming a world champion and Olympic medallist one day.
She said: “As much as I was happy that I went to the Olympics, I didn’t want to always be looking back on the past.
“I wanted to look more into the future and be excited about what’s to come next.”
Si To Jian Tong (men’s epee), Juliet Heng (women’s sabre) and Dan Wei Zuo (men’s sabre) are the other fencers going to the UAE.
“I’m just trying to focus on fencing my best at the competition,” said Si To, 20, the individual epee gold medallist at the 2023 SEA Games.
“It’s my first time going for such an event and considering my age, I’m still quite young, so whether I make it or not, I hope I can fence my best and just be able to get a result I’m happy with.”
