Malaysians Joshua, Natasha Gunning For Gold In Fencing At SEA Games

KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 (Bernama) – Two national fencing athletes are giving early warnings they are gunning for the gold medals at the Kuala Lumpur 2017 (29th SEA Games) from Aug 19 to 30. Joshua Koh I Jie is a national prospect in garnering the gold medal in the men’s individual epee event while Natasha Ezzra Abu Bakar’s chance in the women’s individual foil event is bright. However, Joshua, 27, refused to take his competitions in the event lightly but remained humble and focused on training in order to achieve his aim. Joshua, who is set to enter his fourth edition at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games this time, stressed that he would make full use of his experience at the previous three SEA Games. “I will definitely make full use of my past experience for the coming SEA Games. I am confident I can win this time on home turf,” he told reporters at a media conference for the national fencing squad’s ‘We Are Champions’ programme here Wednesday. Joshua would leave for South Korea on Sunday to take part in a two-month intensive training while Natasha would follow suit at the end of the month. In the meantime, Natasha also wanted to prove to Malaysians her capability to contribute a gold medal to the nation. “I will prove to all the people of Malaysia and my family that I can contribute a gold medal. “Performing on our own turf will be a jab in the arm for me as surely local supporters will flood the competition venue, as well as my family, who will come to support me,” she said. Joshua and Natasha concurred that the South Korean stint would impact positively on them because the country had many talented fencing athletes and sparring partners who could boost their performances. “The focus of training in South Korea will be on tactical and strategy. They have many fencing athletes there who will give variations to our game. We will indeed be getting valuable experiences,” said Joshua. The two athletes would also take part in the Asia Fencing Championship in Hong Kong in mid-June which would be the final stage of preparation before the SEA Games challenge. For the record, Joshua won the gold medal in the individual epee event at the Indonesian SEA Games (2011) and bronze at the Thailand SEA Games (2007) in the team event while Natasha’s best performance was at the Singapore SEA Games (2015) where she qualified to the quarter-finals. -- BERNAMA