Catantan vs Esteban in Olympics possible
Samantha Catantan (left) and Maxine Esteban TMT PHOTO/ESTEBAN’S FB
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Is there a possibility for the former Philippine fencing team’s 1-2 punch of Samantha Catantan and Maxine Esteban – now with Ivory Coast – to clash in a ‘dream bout’ in the Paris Olympics this July?
Yes.
There is a high probability that the two former teammates may see each other during the early stage of the Direct Elimination of the fencing competition of the Summer Games in France.
And if that moment comes, Catantan said it would be wonderful.
“Kung mag-tapat ganun talaga, wala naman kami magagawa. I think we worked really hard. It would be nice to fence against each other because it’s been a long time since the last time we fenced,” said Catantan, who together with Esteban, were guided and mentored for several years by former national team coach Rolando “Amat Canlas Jr.
“Of course, you don’t want to fence your teammate in that kind of tournament, kasi kahit papaano gusto mo makalaban yung mga hindi mo pa naka-laban before. We’ll see,” she added.
The 22-year-old Catantan booked her spot in the Paris Olympics following a dramatic 15-14 win against Sofiya Aktayeva of Kazakhstan in women’s foil event of the Asian & Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament (OQT) last Saturday at the Zayed Sports Complex in Fujairah.
As for Esteban, she left the Philippines and opted to go through the naturalization process as she switched nationality in the country of Ivory Coast last June 2023, and she secured her spot in the Paris Olympics as the highest ranked FIE fencer in the African zone.
There will be 34 fencers in women’s foil category in the Olympics, and the 31st to 34th players will go through elimination process via crossover – 31st versus 34th and 32nd versus 33rd – Direct Elimination to decide who will advance in the DE Final 32.
There is a strong chance for Catantan and Esteban to fall between that 31st to 34th spots.
The top eight teams – based on team events world ranking – have earned three spots each in the Paris Olympics, and these are Italy, the United States of America, France, Japan, Canada, China, Poland and Egypt. As host, France has an additional fourth spot under this guideline.
There are also six slots based on Zonal Highest FIE Ranking that have been decided, as Asia got two with Singapore and Hong Kong, Europe also two with Germany and Hungary, Africa one with Ivory Coast and America one with Chile.
The OQT, aside from Asian and Oceania, will likewise offer one slot each in Europe, America, Africa and the host nation France.
As teammates since the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, Catantan has had better results compared to Esteban, with the latter bagging the silver medal in the 2017 edition in Malaysia, a bronze in 2019 SEA Games in Manila, a gold medal in 2021 Vietnam biennial meet.
In comparison, the only time that Esteban won a bronze medal was in 2017.
As teammates, the two helped the Philippine Team capture a bronze medal in 2019, and a silver medal in 2021.
However for Catantan, no matter who she meets, she said she will be ready for her Olympic debut.
“We’ll do our best to prepare for the tournament. It’s going to be a very tough tournament, kasi itong mga players na ‘to they’re built to fence in the Olympics. The last four years alam nila na makaka-pasok sila so they’ve been preparing for this moment,” said Catantan.
“Pero lahat naman kami kasi nagta-trabaho at nagsi-sipag na magkaron ng magandang performance, and my goal is to give my very best and fight until kung saan ako abutin ng kakayanan ko,” said Catantan.