Blade Club fencer Kiria Tikanah showed resilience and maturity at the Paris 2024 Olympics, winning her opening bout before exiting in the table of 32 after a tough match against world No. 3 Alberta Santuccio of Italy.
Winning the Opening Bout
Kiria got off to a winning start at Paris 2024, displaying composure as she edged out world No. 46 Maria Luisa Doig Calderon of Peru 15-14 in the table-of-64 bout. This victory also served as revenge for her loss to the Peruvian at the 2023 world championships.
Tough Match Against World No. 3
Carrying that momentum into the clash against Santuccio, a silver medallist at the 2023 world championships, the score was level at 2-2 after the first period. However, Santuccio’s experience prevailed as she began pulling away in the second and third periods to seal the win 15-10.
Kiria, ranked 72 places behind her opponent, fought hard but ultimately fell short in this high-level encounter.
Kiria’s Reflections
Despite the loss, Kiria expressed satisfaction with her performance:
“The disappointment comes a bit different this time round. The last time I was disappointed with how I fenced, but now I’m quite satisfied and I’m more disappointed by the result.”
“I gave everything that I had, I left it all on the piste, I did my best. I couldn’t have done anything more different and that was the best I could do.”
Kiria drew a stark contrast between her mindset at Paris 2024 and her experience at the Tokyo Games in 2020, where she struggled with the increased expectations of being an Olympian:
“All the other Olympians were doing top-eights, top-16s and I was top-64, (which made me think) do I even deserve to have the Olympian name if I can’t live up to how the rest of them are doing? After a defeat, I felt like I didn’t really deserve it and then it kind of snowballs.”
But she believes she has grown since then:
“I’m more mature now in terms of how I think and the strategies I use, happy that I managed to do it better this time round. In Tokyo, my mind was all over the place. If you had asked me what I did wrong, I would’ve had no idea. This time I’m more conscious and mature.”
Coach’s Praise
Coach Henry Koh was pleased with her performance:
“To have put up such a fight, I’m really happy about it. It’s always bittersweet when you try your best but I think she has no regrets, she gave it her all.”
Kiria will depart Paris with more confidence, more aware of her weaknesses and what she can bring to the table, setting the stage for future competitions.
Source: CNA – Fencing: Singapore’s Kiria Tikanah exits after loss to world No. 3 opponent at Paris Olympics
