The South East Asian Fencing Federation (SEAFF) Minime 2024 concluded on Sunday (1 September), where the men’s foil component saw 37 top competitors from six ASEAN countries.
Bringing home the gold medal for the host country Malaysia, Saif Nordin, put in an excellent performance against a strong field, carrying his blade undefeated throughout the tournament, which was held at the OCM Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
While Saif Nordin from Malaysia won the gold medal, Max Freebody Tien-Le of Singapore brought home the silver medal, and the bronze medals were jointly won by Hernon James Jun Yuan of Malaysia and Chong Jun Yu Aaron from Singapore, respectively.
The SEAFF competition included men’s and women’s events for foil, sabre and epee, which according to the Time Live website, some 322 competitors took part in this annual competition.
In an exclusive comment to News Hub Asia, Saif remembered those who helped him achieve his recent results, “I would like to thank my coaches for all the support they have given me over the past months; there has been a hectic schedule which included participation in SUKMA (Sukan Malaysia or Malaysian Games), the first leg of the ACC tournament in Taipei and the Commonwealth Fencing Championship in New Zealand.”
“The Olympics were not that long ago, watching the top fencers in the world is such a motivation (for me) to do well. I will keep working hard and do my best in local competitions and those competitions where we face international fencers,” concluded Saif.
Coach Andrew Mok from Touche Fencing Club in Kuala Lumpur, who is Saif’s personal coach, commented, “Saif is still young as a fencer but he is showing signs of maturing, especially in his ability to read the game. SEAFF is a good tournament to meet fencers of his age and from around the region. It is important to benchmark performance in every age group so that young fencers can understand where they are in the bigger picture.” 
