It didn’t take long for Maxine Esteban to show her true worth.
Shortly after leaving the Philippine Fencing Association, Esteban clinched the gold medal in the International Handel Cup European U23 Circuit Championship in Halle, Germany last Sunday.
Now competing for Ivory Coast, the 23-year-old Esteban beat Luca Sarah Holland-Cunz, 15-13, in the final of the women’s individual foil event of this prestigious continental tournament that was participated by 96 of the top fencers in Europe.
Esteban, who used to be the country’s highest ranked Filipino fencer before suffering a knee injury that said to have led to her ouster from the national squad, took down Katerina Illekova of Czech Republic in the Round of 32, 15-6, before overcoming eighth seed Marie Hofler of Germany, 11-10, in the Round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the Last Eight, she scored an earthshaking upset by beating top seed and German national squad mainstay Carlotta Sophi Morandi, 14-13, before eliminating Larissa Evers, also of Germany, 15-8, to assure herself of at least a silver medal.
In the final, Esteban, a former Ateneo de Manila University star who is an eight-time national champion and won multiple Southeast Asian Games medals when she was still competing for the Philippines, took an early lead before Holland-Cunz stormed back.
But Esteban roared anew as she kept her composure to secure the thrilling victory that brought pride and joy to her new country, Ivory Coast.
It was her first gold medal in the European circuit after clinching a bronze when the event was held in Czech Republic last year.
Esteban’s coach, Andrea Magro of Italy, said the change of scenery had done wonders for the prized Philippine-born fencer as she is now at peace and very focused on making it to the Paris Olympics next year.
“Her life is quiet there. In Ivory Coast, she has no pressure since they support her. She has nothing to worry about and she can train properly,” Magro said.
Esteban’s departure from the PFA was quite controversial.
After suffering a knee injury in the World Championship in Egypt two years ago, Esteban filed a leave of absence while recuperating.
But when she recovered six months later, the federation refused to reinstate her, leaving her with no choice but to leave the country, similar to what chess wizard Wesley So did when he switched his allegiance to the United States.
“I was kicked out of the team while I was recovering from an injury which I got while competing for our country,” Esteban said in a previous statement.
“I would have joined these qualifiers even though I knew full well I had a torn ACL but I relied on the excuse letter and thought that the federation supported me.”
Magro said he is happy to see his ward compete against the best players in the world without any worries.
“Comparing her to an employee, she was under a floating status when she was injured,” the 62-year-old Magro said.
“In Ivory Coast, if somebody gets a medal, they would congratulate them and move on. They never told her she had to be in the country to train.”
Esteban will be spending her holidays in the country before returning to Ivory Coast and Europe to continue her quest for an Olympic slot.
“She is looking forward to hopefully making it. It’s too early to say since there are more qualifiers left,” Magro added.
“We are praying she will make it.”
