SINGAPORE — Three years ago, at the World Cadet & Junior Fencing Championships, which was held at the International Fair in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Eric Berthier said something to his then 13-year-old daughter Amita, who was making her debut at the event, that she would remember for a long time to come.

“Get to the podium one day, Amita. I know you can do it!” he said.

Those words came rushing back to Amita’s mind on Tuesday (April 4) after she achieved what her father had predicted.

The 16-year-old won the bronze in the cadet women’s foil event after reaching the semi-finals. She had a chance to make it either a silver or a gold but was edged out 10-12 by Hungary’s Nora Hajas in their semi-final clash.

Nonetheless, Amita’s bronze-medal win was still a milestone for her and Fencing Singapore - it made her only the second Singaporean to win a medal at the world’s top youth fencing championships following Lau Ywen’s gold-medal win in the individual sabre cadet event in last year’s Championships in France.

Amita’s father was not at this year’s Championships though — he died in a workplace accident about 14 months ago. He was 51.

That was why Amita, who has three siblings and is the youngest in her family, dedicated her medal to her father.

“I lost my dad 14 months ago, and we were last here in Plovdiv at this very same venue for my world championship debut in 2014,” she said.

“So today, this medal honours him, my coaches Ralf Bissdorf and Joseph Engert, and my family from across the world.”

When asked if winning the medal was an emotional moment for her, Amita said: “It was, definitely. Returning here to this venue, I wanted to make him proud of me and I think that gave me an added boost to fence even harder during the tournament.

“I know how much this medal would mean to him, so I’d like to dedicate it to his memory.”

The medal win also vindicated Amita’s decision to move from Singapore to Boston late last year to train with her coach Ralf Bissdorf, a former Olympics silver medallist.

Amita first came under the German’s guidance when he was the head coach of the Singapore Sports School’s Fencing Academy, where she was a student.

When Bissdorf moved to the US late last year, Amita decided to follow suit in a bid to realise her potential in the sport, and began training with Bissdorf at the Marx Fencing Academy in Boston at the start of the year.

By then, she had already created history by winning Singapore’s first-ever gold medal in the Under-17 women’s individual foil at the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships.

She then followed up on that feat by helping Singapore to another gold in the meet in the women’s team event

Yesterday, the SpexScholarship recipient, who stays at the home of a fellow Marx Academy fencer, and recently completed a high school online diploma course. breezed through the preliminary stages of the meet, beating rivals from Ukraine, Britain and Belarus in the process.

And after exiting the competition last year in the quarter-finals, she made sure she cleared that hurdle yesterday to assure herself of at least a bronze.

Pitted against Ukraine’s Anna Taranenko, Amita held her nerve to record a dominant 15-6 victory and secure her spot in the semis.

The only question that now remained was the colour of the medal that she would be bringing home.

But despite her best efforts in the semis, Amita was unable to overcome Hajas, who subsequently lost 13-9 to Russia’s Adelina Bikbulatova in the final.

Still, Amita was clearly proud of what she accomplished on Tuesday.

“It has been a year of tough choices, training and sacrifice to get to this bronze medal on the world stage,” she said.

“My thanks to the Marx Fencing Academy in Boston for having hosted me in the last few months, and to all those who never stopped believing in me.”

Bissdorf said he was pleased with how his protege has been performoing at the championships, and said that this achievement is proof of her talent and potential to go far in the sport.

“She fenced really well throughout the tournament and even in the semis, the match was on edge right down to the final seconds and she only lost narrowly,” said the 46-year-old.

“It’s an outstanding achievement to have won a medal at this championships, and she fully deserves it because she’s worked so hard over the past few months.

“I’ve always said that Amita is one of the brightest young prospects that I’ve seen in fencing – she not only possesses natural talent, but is very hardworking as well, so I believe she has everything it takes to go far in the sport and be able to reach the Olympics one day.”

Amita will next compete in the world championship’s junior (under-20) category – in both the individual and team women’s foil – this Friday, where she is aiming to reach at least the top-32.

“My self-confidence has been boosted by my bronze medal win, and I’m excited to take part in the junior championships,” said Amita.

“My goal is to reach the top-32, but if I can somehow progress to the top-16, that’ll be a huge bonus.

“But I’ve learnt that when you set your mind to certain goals, nothing is impossible.

“I’ve just got to remain calm, be positive and have believe in myself and I’ll be able to achieve my aims.”

After the Championships, Amita will head back to Singapore for a month’s break.

She will then fly back to Boston next month to ready herself for the Asian Open Category championships in mid-June, before turning her attentions to prepare for the South-East Asian (SEA) Games in August.