Catantan crosses swords vs Brazilian

Samantha Catantan steps up the piste hoping to score the country’s first fencing win in over three decades in the women’s individual foil showdown against Mariana Pistoia of Brazil to begin her Paris Olympics campaign today at the Grand Palais.

Catantan and Pistoia battle at 3:30 p.m. (Manila time).

The lone Filipino fencer to don the tricolor in Paris will not only shoot for a passage into the next round but will also try to deliver the Philippines’ first win in the Summer Games since current Philippine Sports commissioner Walter Torres won one bout out of six in the men’s individual foil in the 1992 Barcelona edition.

Meanwhile, Philippine-born Ivorian Maxine Esteban is slated to face home bet Pauline Ranvier in the Round of 32 on the same day at 5:25 p.m.

Catantan will have her hands full against the 25-year-old Brazilian, ranked No. 65 in the International Fencing Federation women’s foil.

Ranked at no. 266, the Penn State standout would need to dig deep in her bag of tricks to get past Pistoia.

It doesn’t come any easier in the round of 32 with world No. 2 Arianna Errigo of Italy already awaiting the survivor.

“For sure, I’m looking forward to facing them since they are the best in the world and they deserve to be there,” Catantan said.

Catantan trained in Venice, Italy and in Metz, France for her Olympic debut.

She also trained under Italian coach and 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medalist Matteo Zennaro for three weeks last June, joined the rest of the Philippine squad in Metz and had a couple of sparring sessions in Luxembourg, Belgium.