Ex-karateka wins fencing competition
Naledi Lemogang | Tuesday October 24, 2017 15:07
The Botswana Amateur Fencing Society (BAFS) competition, held at Ditshupo Hall, saw Masena come up against multi gold medal winner, Selejang of Tlokweng Fencing Club.
After the close contest, Masena admitted the bout was difficult as he was battling with masters from the pools until the final. He said he managed to beat fencers who taught him the sport, which is a huge achievement, that would inspire him. He said in the past he had to settle for either bronze or silver.
“Today I was fighting against fierce competitors especially in this (seibra) weapon category where the target is the upper body. It was not easy because all players were going for gold.
I am happy that my strategy worked throughout the pool games and in the final,” Masena said. He said fencing is a fast sport, therefore, one has to be alert all the times to prevent opponents from scoring points.
In the other categories, in the senior men’s Onkarabile Keromang emerged victorious while Aobakwe Modise won the women’s section. Kgosi Tsimele took gold medal in the junior men epee and Boikobo Nkwe was the winner on the women’s side. In the Benjamin category, meant for players under nine years, Aone Maswabi scooped gold on the men’s side while Ariela Maswabi beat her competitors to claim in the women’s section.
BAFS spokesperson, Thato Gleeson said the second edition of the national champions was meant to select the national team to represent Botswana at the Limpopo Open annual tournament next month. He said they are also using the tournament for the ranking systems which will make national team selection much easier and transparent.
“The tournament went well. We are looking forward to the last local competition of the year which will be the Gaborone Open that will follow.
Our intention is to also select a national team looking at the performance of the players from the past two national championships,” Gleeson said.