MEDIA RELEASE 

4 December 2023 

NORTH MELBOURNE – NSW fencer Min Yi Du won Saturday’s Veteran Women’s Sabre event at the 2023 Australian and Oceania Senior, Veteran, and Australian Youth Circuit Fencing Championships. 

Ms. Du, who was selected at age 17 for fencing at the Canton Institute of Sport in China, became a professional fencer a year later. At the time, she fenced foil, because it was the only weapon in which women were permitted to compete. She eventually switched to sabre, saying, “I really wanted to see women do well, like men do, so I swapped to sabre. In sabre you need to make a decision really quickly, and you can bend the rules, but you can’t break the rules – that’s the hard part, and the fun part.”

Fencing’s been a part of her life for decades. “I’ve been fencing more than 40 years, and without consistency and hard work, you’ll never achieve. My students and my club, UTS, and the fencing associations have given lots of support.”

She encouraged new fencers to pay attention to the basics of fencing. “I’m 64, and I still can fence, because I’ve got really good foundations.”

Results for each event are being posted in real time at

https://www.fencingtimelive.com/tournaments/eventSchedule/8284EE098F63431FA0F03B468EE30E0A#today

The 2023 Australian and Oceania Senior, Veteran, and Australian Youth Circuit Fencing Championships continue through Tuesday, 5 December. Photo and interview opportunities with competitors will be available throughout the competition. 

Photo credit: Ed Chiu

For more information

Laura E. Goodin
Media Officer
media@fencingvictoria.org