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SEA Games: Teen fencer Lau Ywen claims gold for Singapore

Lau Ywen (right) defeats Pornsawan Ngernrunguangroj of Thailand 15-12 in the gold medal bout on 23 August at the 2017 SEA Games. (PHOTO: Hannah Teoh / Yahoo News Singapore)
Lau Ywen (right) defeats Pornsawan Ngernrunguangroj of Thailand 15-12 in the gold medal bout on 23 August at the 2017 SEA Games. (PHOTO: Hannah Teoh / Yahoo News Singapore)

REPORTING FROM KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

Fencer Lau Ywen concluded Singapore’s fencing campaign at the SEA Games with a gold medal in the women’s individual sabre competition on Wednesday (23 August) at MITEC, Kuala Lumpur.

The 17-year-old defeated Thailand’s Pornsawan Ngernrunguangroj 15-12 to take the gold in a tightly fought bout.

The medal was a particularly sweet one for Lau, who was making a comeback from injury, and was fencing in her first major competition after a six month layoff due to a stress fracture in her back.

She had been fencing in several competitions and ignored the symptoms of how serious the back injury was. Lau’s coach David Chan said she was in chronic pain for “quite a while” since late December, and even sitting down was painful.

Fencer Lau Ywen, seen here with her coach David Chan, is all smiles after winning the gold medal bout. (PHOTO: Hannah Teoh / Yahoo News Singapore)
Fencer Lau Ywen, seen here with her coach David Chan, is all smiles after winning the gold medal bout. (PHOTO: Hannah Teoh / Yahoo News Singapore)

Lau admitted that she did not have a medal target for the tournament.

“When I enter a competition like this, especially after such a long break, I’m not always 100 per cent sure how I will do…

“When I fence I want it to be about my own feeling and not about any kind of results. My idea is to express myself on the piste, have as much fun as I can I, do the best that I can, (and not be) results driven,” she said.

Despite her injury, Lau – who has been fencing since the age of six – had refused to withdraw from the Games as she missed being in action.

“When we came to SEA games were were not thinking of the medal or even the colour of the medal. We were thinking of just getting her back in form, helping her enjoy the competition feeling, helping her to acclimatise again to the intensity of a major Games,” said Chan.

Lau was competing in the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships in Korat in February when the injury flared up, and Chan said she was fencing “in a lot of pain”.

“To win a gold is not a surprise considering her standard but it’s a just a really great feeling. It shows how she’s bounced back from her injury,” he added.

Chan said he was proud of the maturity Lau had displayed and that she seemed to be fencing “in a very happy way”.

Earlier this month, Lau was named Sportsgirl of the Year at the Singapore Sports Awards after winning a historic gold medal in April 2016 at the Junior and Cadet World Championships in Bourges, France. It was Singapore’s first fencing title at a World Championships event.

Singapore’s fencers contributed a total of two SEA Games golds (Amita Berthier) and one bronze (Nicole Wong) in the women’s foil, one gold in the women’s sabre (Lau Ywen) and two bronzes in the men’s sabre (Ahmad Huzaifah) and men’s foil (Jet Ng).

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