Held on the 1st & 2nd of February, 2020 in conjunction with Federal Territory Day and Visit Malaysia Year 2020 at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur the 2020 International Touché Minime attracted over 220 participants from 9 countries.International fencers from between the ages of 8 to 15 from Australia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia arrived in Malaysia to compete in Foil, Epee and Sabre disciplines in individual and team categories.
The organisers Touché Fencing Club, were able to hold this inaugural tournament with the support of Malaysian Fencing Federation (MFF), Federal Territory Amateur Fencing Association (FTAFA), Ministry of Youth & Sports (KBS) and Tourism Malaysia as part of the Visit Malaysia Year 2020. Support from the corporate sector came from 100Plus and the Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF).
“We have to thank the state and national fencing associations who have given their support to this tournament. We want to make this an annual affair so that it can be an international highlight in Malaysia’s youth fencing calendar” stated Mok Chek Wlong, Director of Coaching for Touché Fencing Club.
“It is great to have teams here in Malaysia, usually we have travel to other countries to get this level of international competition. It’s my hope that exposing our Malaysian fencers to increased levels of competition will enable us to forge more young fencers who are competitive internationally” continued Coach Mok who is also a former national fencer.
“It’s fitting that we host this international tournament as part of the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 and during Hari Wilayah celebrations. One of our intentions is to attract more sports tourists to Kuala Lumpur. Our research shows that sports tourism for youth athletes has a strong multiplier effect as many travel with parents and coaches which increases both arrival numbers and hotel occupancy. Stated Nordin Abdullah who is Organising Chairman for this tournament,
“Fencing is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. As an Olympic sport we should look at tournaments like these as starting points for the development of high- performance young athletes that will one day become high performance athletes that can represent the country in international tournaments like the SEA Games, Asia Games and eventually the Olympics.”
“I would like to thank all the people who made this possible, especially the volunteers who worked hard to make this a reality, this kind of effort bodes well for the development of sports in Malaysia.” Concluded Nordin when speaking with the media.
