Sam Catantan’s valiant stand falls short against Italian top seed at Paris Olympics

Metro Manila, Philippines — Filipino fencer Sam Catantan bowed out of the Paris 2024 Olympics contention after a close 15-12 loss to top seed Arianna Errigo of Italy in the Round of 32 of the women’s individual foil Sunday at the Grand Palais.

The 22-year-old Catantan, who was coming off a rousing win over Brazil’s Mariana Pistoia in the Round of 64, held her ground against the more experienced Errigo.

After trailing 4-0, Catantan responded with four unanswered points and even took the lead at 5-4 in the first frame.

The Italian countered, using her height advantage, and built an 11-6 cushion in the second canto.

A nagging left knee injury did not stop Catantan from proceeding as she trimmed the deficit to 14-12, but Errigo was too much to handle in the end.