Sam Catantan won a close contest against Brazil's Mariana Pistoia for her Olympic debut.
It was a fairy-tale Olympic debut for Sam Catantan.
The Filipina fencing ace had to comeback from as many as three points down before eliminating Brazil’s Mariana Pistoia, 15-13, in table 64 of the women’s individual foil in Paris 2024.
Sam actually started slow, trailing 0-3 and 4-7 in period one. Catantan also had a minor injury scare after experience discomfort in her knees.
In true Filipino fighting spirit though, Catantan started to take over following the injury timeout, reeling off four straight points for her first lead of the match at 8-7.
However, Pistoia proved to be a tough opponent as the Brazilian had the Filipino bet on the ropes, 13-12.
Catantan then dug deep into her bag of tricks, scoring three straight points for the win. The victory pushed Sam to table 32, where she will face no. 1 seed Arianna Errigo of Italy.