EMERGING FROM SHADOWS

Fencer Robson's unique night training in camp helps foil team regain the title

- Deepanraj Ganesan

National fencer Samuel Robson must be known as the odd one among the many soldiers at Hendon Camp in Changi, the base of the Singapore Armed Forces' commandos.

Since enlisting for national service in January, he has had to resort to some unique training methods in camp as he is unable to train as regularly.

To sharpen his craft, he does shadow fencing outside his bunk.

Visualising his opponent ahead of him, Robson would hold an imaginary foil and fence for hours.

On some days, to train his reaction speed, he would repeatedly bounce tennis balls off the wall and catch them.

The 19-year-old does his training drills or goes for jogs and gym sessions after completing his duties for the day, doing so from around 7pm till close to "lights out".

Those efforts paid off on Dec 18, when Robson showed no ring rust on the piste at the Fashion Island Shopping Mall's Island Hall. He combined with Jonathan Lim, Julian Soh and Raphael Tan to beat Malaysia 45-20 and reclaim the men's team foil gold.