SINGAPORE – Aarya and Amita Berthier will not forget the feeling of standing on the top of the podium at the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships. For it was in Manama, Bahrain, last month where the siblings — and team-mates Tatiana Wong and Maxine Wong — created history by winning Singapore’s first-ever women’s cadet team gold (foil).

But, unbeknownst to the spectators in Bahrain’s National Stadium, the biggest moment in the sisters’ budding careers was also an extremely emotional one for them and their mother, Uma.

Three weeks before the tournament, the girls’ father, 51-year-old Eric Berthier, died after a fall at his workplace.

While Uma gave the girls the option of pulling out of the Asian championships, Aarya and Amita — who are 17 and 15 respectively — decided to press on.

“It was tough, but my husband always said the fight has to go on,” said research consultant Uma, 51, in an interview with TODAY. “I asked them if they wanted to go and they said yes because that’s what their dad would have wanted.”

Aarya, a Year 5 student at Raffles Institution said: “The first competition was tough but we had the support from our family and friends. It helped that on the day of the competition, our coach decided not to treat us differently and that helped because it didn’t constantly remind us of negative things.”

The sisters fought bravely through their personal pain and tragedy, with Amita thwarting top-ranked Keung Nok Kan of Hong Kong in the women’s individual foil quarter-finals, before claiming two more scalps in South Korea’s Kim Chae Yeon and Lee Hee Jin to clinch Singapore’s first-ever gold in the Under-17 event.

The Singapore Sports School student then combined with Aarya, Tatiana and Maxine to defeat Hong Kong (36-30) in the team semis, before beating favourites Japan (22-16) in the final to claim the coveted gold. They also won a bronze in the women’s junior team foil.

Watching Amita collect her individual gold medal, and hearing the national anthem played at the arena proved a particularly emotional moment for the family.

“I was thinking of my dad during the national anthem, and how he would be proud of the win, and how he was always proud of us,” said Amita.

Uma, who was in the stadium to witness the moment, said: “It was very emotional for me because my husband was looking forward to being there. And to see them fight with gusto and pride, I knew that was what he would have wanted.

“I was very proud to see the girls set their emotions aside and that gave me courage as well ... to find the strength to overcome challenges.”

Having pulled off historic title wins for Singapore at the Under-17 level, Aarya and Amita, who will compete in the World Junior and Cadet Championships in France next month, are hopeful of making the leap into the senior leagues in the future.

The sisters — who have an elder brother and sister, Ashok, 27, and 24-year-old Aishwarya — had picked up the sport at the ages of eight and seven after chancing upon the Z Fencing academy at United Square, and both made the switch from football to fencing. The duo — who train together at Z Fencing and with the national team — have set their sights on competing at the 2020 or 2024 Olympic Games.

While they may not know where their journey will take them, Aarya and Amita are certain that they will have each other, their family and the inspiration of their late father behind them.