Kiria's silver is the best result Singapore has had in fencing at the Asian Games. Photo: SpexSG/ Damrongsak Angsuworapruek
National fencer Kiria Tikanah carved a piece of history with her epee blade on Tuesday (Sep 22) night at the Aichi Sky Expo.
The two-time Olympian clinched a silver in the women’s individual event, becoming the first Singaporean woman to win an individual fencing medal at the Asian Games.
Just by making the final, she had already marked the best finish of any Singaporean fencer at the pan-Asian tournament.
The quartet of Maxine Wong, Tatiana Wong, Melanie Huang and Amita Berthier won the women’s foil team bronze eight years ago while Lim Wei Wen won bronze in the men’s individual epee in 2014.
“It definitely means a lot… It’s the first time that we’ve gotten more than a bronze medal.”
“Coming in as flagbearer and one of the oldest fencers on the team, there was a lot more on me mentally as compared to previous Asian Games. I really wanted to show something for the country and my team, and I am glad I managed to do it this time.”
“Hopefully, it will motivate the rest of the fencers in the coming days and be a good boost for the team.”
The 26-year-old only lost one of her five pool matches and advanced to the round of 16 after receiving a bye. There, she beat Japan’s Miho Yoshimura 14-13.
Two neck-and-neck contests followed, with Kiria edging out Kazakhstan’s Irina Bakaldina 15-14 before securing another clutch 15-14 victory over China’s world No. 23 Yang Jingwen.
“It was a lot of adrenaline. When I first saw the table and who was going to advance, I knew it was going to be a tough day… When I won the first two bouts by a single bout, I was ready to go all out in the next few bouts. It gave me good mental prep for the final because I knew I was going to fight for every single touch.”
She stayed close to world No.3 and favourite Song Se-ra early on in the final before losing 15-8.
“Today, I really trusted myself, didn’t hold back, didn’t overthink a little too much… That really made the difference today. I'm hoping that with the same mentality, and the rest of my teammates as well, we are able to, hopefully, bring home a medal in the team event,” she said, with the women’s epee team set to compete three days from now.
“I fought (Song) many times before, and I've lost to her many times before. So definitely, there was nothing for me to lose… I went into the finals knowing that it's going to be a tough fight and fought for every single point.”
The Singapore Sports Award Meritorious Award recipient has been in fine form the past year, winning a historic first individual joint-bronze at last year’s Asian Championships where she fell to familiar foe Song in the semi-finals.
She followed with a gold and silver at last December’s SEA Games before a joint-bronze in the women’s epee team event in this June’s Asian Championships after a 45-41 defeat to China in the semi-finals.
Before the tournament, the contingent’s flagbearer said: “We have quite a good chance to do well this year. I want to come home with a medal, but it’s not going to be easy. Asia is really competitive for fencing, especially for the women’s epee discipline, so it’s going to be tough matches all day round, but if we do our best and put in everything that we have, we have a good chance.”
And the third time was the charm for Kiria as she finally reached the podium.
Teammate Elle Koh started brightly in the pool stages, winning all five of her bouts and earned a bye to the round of 16 where she beat Juliana Ma. Beatrice Gomez of the Philippines 3-1.
Her run was halted by Japan’s 17th-ranked Tamaki Terayama in the quarterfinals after a 15-11 loss.
In the men’s foil, Samuel Robson did well to advance to the final eight but was beaten by Hong Kong’s 2025 world champion Ryan Choi 15-12.
Raphael Tan made it out of the pool stages as well but lost to Uzbekistan’s Radmir Semeneev 15-11 in the round of 32.
The 20th Asian Games are held in Japan from 19 September to 4 October 2026. For the latest Team Singapore coverage and news, follow Team Singapore on their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) or visit the official Team Singapore website.