MANILA, Philippines -- Filipina fencer Samantha Catantan fell short of securing a spot in the Tokyo Olympics at the Asia-Oceania qualifiers held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Sunday.

The former University of the East star bowed out of the women's foil competition in the semifinals after losing to Yana Alborova of Uzbekistan, 15-10.

She finished tied for third with Mona Shaito of Lebanon, and settled for bronze in her event.

The 19-year-old Catantan, who now plays for Pennsylvania State University in the US NCAA, had a bye in the round of 16 and defeated Taiwan's Hsin Cheng, 10-6, in the quarterfinals. She won five of her six matches in pool play to enter the round of 16 as the fourth seed.

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The top-seeded Alborova went on to lose to Singapore's Amita Berthier in the finals, 15-14. Berthier, who won individual and team gold in the foil in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, secured the lone ticket to Tokyo at stake in the competition.

Meanwhile, Christian Concepcion finished 10th overall in the men's sabre, losing to Alexandre Douglas of Australia, 15-9, in the round of 16.

Noelito Jose finished 11th in men's epee, after bowing to Iraq's Mohsin Abbas, 15-14, in the round of 16.

On Monday, Hanniel Abella (women's epee), Jylyn Nicanor (women's sabre) and Nathaniel Perez (men's foil) will compete in their own qualifiers.

Only one ticket to Tokyo is offered per event.

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