Singapore fencer Ashton Auw wins sabre bronze at Youth Olympics - The Straits Times

Singapore fencer Ashton Auw celebrating after winning a bronze in the boys’ individual sabre event.

SINGAPORE – Team Singapore wrapped up their 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) campaign with a bronze medal on Nov 13 as fencer Ashton Auw beat Giorgi Urushadze of Georgia 15-10 in the third-place play-off of the boys’ individual sabre event.

The 17-year-old’s win at the Dakar Expo Center in Senegal has resulted in the Republic’s first fencing medal at the quadrennial YOG.

Ashton took a 4-0 lead, but the Georgian fought back to 6-6. Ashton then scored four consecutive points and never relinquished his lead against his 17-year-old opponent.

Ahead of the competition, the Singapore Sports School student had told himself that there is no one that he cannot beat in this competition.

He believes that this mantra paid dividends, adding: “I went in with the mentality of taking one point at a time, one bout at a time, and I just kept telling myself that I want this so bad, and I just got to focus not on the opponent, but focus on myself.

“I guess it did help me a lot… I was still holding on to that (belief) in the semi-final bout a bit, and I was just trying to think of the mistakes I made and how I can avoid them for the next event.”

The Singaporean, who had won all six of his matches in the pool stage, had defeated Iraq’s Hayder Al-Asadi 15-11 in the table of eight, before falling 15-13 to Kazakhstan’s Aibar Kaiym in the semi-finals. Kaiym then lost 15-6 to Turkey’s Candeniz Berrak in the final.

With Ashton’s bronze, Team Singapore have ended their 2026 YOG campaign with three medals, having won a gold and a silver earlier.

Wushu exponent Ng Zhe Nin, 16, struck gold in the girls’ taijiquan combined event on Nov 3. Two days later, table tennis player Loy Ming Ying, 16, earned a silver in the girls’ singles event.

Singapore was represented by 14 athletes at these Games, competing in archery, athletics, badminton, 3x3 basketball, fencing, artistic gymnastics, sailing, table tennis and wushu.

Singapore National Olympic Council secretary-general Mark Chay said: “We are very proud of how our Team Singapore athletes rose to the challenge, showing their determination and hunger to compete against some of the world’s best young athletes, including higher-ranked opponents, while embracing the spirit of the Games.

“Their performances reflect not only their competitive drive, but also the courage to challenge themselves and the joy of being part of this global sporting community.

“These Games have the power to inspire young athletes to dream bigger, challenge themselves and pursue their aspirations. Just as importantly, the experiences they gain and the friendships they build can inspire others who follow their journeys.”

Looking ahead, Ashton hopes that his win will inspire future Singaporean fencers to do even better at overseas competitions.

He said: “This (YOG) was quite an experience, I don’t know how to describe it, but my favourite things here are the amount of friends I made, because I usually travel for my own sport, but now I get to travel with other Singaporeans from different sports.

“I feel like this YOG is definitely a stepping stone and I’ll try to keep my confidence, as a reminder to keep on fighting and striving for even greater results.”

Melvyn Teoh is a sports journalist at The Straits Times.