Filipinas collide

When Samantha Catantan punched a ticket to the Paris Olympics, everybody knew there was a strong possibility she would be locking horns with another Filipina who now represents another country — Maxine Esteban.

For some, it will be a dream encounter. A match made in heaven. But in reality, it’s a major black eye for Philippine sports.

This real-life telenovela started when Esteban suffered a knee injury while representing the country at the 2022 World Fencing Championship in Cairo. She was the country’s highest-ranked female foil fencer at the time and the word going around was that she would be the face of Philippine fencing in the years to come.

After all, she had been spending her own resources whenever she trained and competed around the world with no less than the great Italian guru, Andrea Magro, as her coach.

But it didn’t happen.

When Esteban was finally given clearance to return, the Philippine Fencing Association refused to reinstate her, prompting her to miss key international tournaments like the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games and the Asian Fencing Championship.

Worse, the federation refused to give a definite reason for her sacking, despite her being one of the brightest athletes on the national squad.

With a bleeding heart, Esteban flew to Ivory Coast to help its fledgling fencing program and undergo naturalization. She eventually punched a ticket to the Summer Games for being the highest-ranked fencer in the African zone.

Now that Esteban was out of the picture, the federation groomed Catantan for the Olympics.

A former University of the East star who now dons the colors of Penn State in the US National Collegiate Athletic Association, the 22-year-old Catantan formally booked a slot in the Summer Games following a dramatic 15-14 win over Sofiya Aktayeva of Kazakhstan in the Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Dubai last week.

With Esteban and Catantan’s Olympic qualifications, sideliners believe that seeing them collide on the world’s biggest sports stage is a strong possibility.

At the Olympics, there will be 34 fencers in the women’s foil category and the last four fencers will have to go through an elimination process via a crossover to decide who will advance to the Final 32.

Should Esteban and Catantan land on the 31st to 34th spots, they will clash for one of the two remaining Olympic slots, a battle that is expected to go down the wire as these two friends who grew up fencing with each other for the national team are now divided by politics, nationality and, yes, a determination to chase Olympic glory.

But will it be good for Philippine sports? Definitely not.

Sure, seeing two of your best fencers going at it on the world’s biggest stage like gritty warriors in the arena will be a proud moment for sports-loving Filipinos. Still, the fact remains that one of them will be wearing the national tricolors while the other will be donning the jersey of a small country somewhere in Africa.

It boils down to the question of why an outstanding fencer like Esteban had to leave the country for a better opportunity — and better treatment — abroad? Did the federation officials or the big bosses in the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee take good care of her during her time with the national team?

Esteban’s decision to represent Ivory Coast had nothing to do with fencing or her dream of competing in the Olympics. It was about how she was treated by the federation when she got injured while representing the country.

For sure, if you rip her chest wide open, you will see the Philippine flag emblazoned on her heart. But sadly, she had to leave and represent another country that saw her abilities, value and potential to become one of the world’s best fencers.

Yes, the Esteban-Catantan Paris encounter is a dream duel. A match made in heaven.

But before we bring out the popcorn and take our pick, let us ask ourselves: Why do these Filipinas have to fence against each other rather than with one another?

Your guess is as good as mine.