India's First-Ever Fencing Medal: Bhavani Devi Makes History at Asian Championships!

Olympic athlete C A Bhavani Devi made history on June 19 by clinching India's inaugural medal, a bronze, at the Asian Fencing Championships in Wuxi, China. Despite a hard-fought battle in the semifinals, Bhavani fell short by a single point, losing to Uzbekistan's Zaynab Dayibekova with a score of 14-15. However, her outstanding performance ensured India's entry into the medal tally for the first time in this esteemed competition. Bhavani's remarkable journey to the podium began with a stunning upset in the quarterfinals, where she defeated reigning world champion Misaki Emura from Japan with a score of 15-10. Misaki had claimed the gold medal in women's sabre at the 2022 World Fencing Championships, held in Cairo. This victory was particularly significant for Bhavani as she had previously faced defeat in all her encounters with the Japanese champion. The 29-year-old fencer received a bye in the round of 64, subsequently defeating Dospay Karina from Kazakhstan in the following round. In a thrilling pre-quarterfinal match, Bhavani upset the third seed, Ozaki Seri, with a score of 15-11. These wins showcased her skill, determination, and progress as a formidable competitor. Rajeev Mehta, the Secretary-General of the Fencing Association of India, expressed his pride and admiration for Bhavani's historic achievement. He acknowledged that she had accomplished what no other Indian fencer had before, becoming the first to secure a medal at the prestigious Asian Championships. Mehta extended his heartfelt congratulations on behalf of the entire fencing community. Although Bhavani fell short of a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, where she became the first Indian fencer to qualify, her performance at the Asian Fencing Championships demonstrated a significant improvement. This medal showcased her remarkable progress and marked a memorable milestone in Indian fencing history.

Bhavani Devi – India’s first gold medal winner at International Fencing Event

In a country, where the sport of fencing is very little heard of, who could have imagined that a little girl of a temple priest will win the first ever gold medal for her country in an international fencing event.  Bhavani Devi is a saber fencer who began her career in 2003. Bhavani Devi was introduced to fencing while she was doing her schooling at Muruga Dhanushkodi girls higher secondary, Chennai. After finishing class 10 she joined the Indian fencing coach Sagar Lagu's training academy, the SAI Centre in Thalassery, Kerala. As fencing is a fledgling sport in India, Bhavani had to face several odds to pursue the combat sport, which has a strong tradition in India. There is no proper infrastructure to train for fencing in India as this sport entails a lot of equipment for training. The player's foreign exposure is very low as they are not sent to participate in international competitions due to lack of funds. For more than three years, Bhavani had taken financial help from her family who were supportive and allowed her to pursue her favourite sport. She also had to find sponsors on her own to go for competitions and train abroad. Most of the times, she was unable to afford a coach for the competitions. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) did help her for one or two competitions.  The Tamil Nadu government also helped her with some funds, but that wouldn’t suffice as Bhavani had bigger dreams. As fencing is a developing sport in the country, Bhavani believed that participating in more and more international tournaments was of paramount importance as it will help to keep abreast of new developments and techniques in the sport. She had to participate in all international tournaments so as to improve her standard and be up-to-date with the new. Abroad, all competitions are well organized with high-quality equipment and all teams have their own personal coaches and physiotherapists. Bhavani couldn’t even afford a coach in most of the tournaments. She believes that the presence of a coach boosts the morale of an athlete and had her coach been with her during her earlier competitions, she could have achieved even more. Through her perseverance and hard work, she managed to get funds from SDAT( Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu) and a sports foundation which apart from funds, also provided her other supports like a psychologist, nutritionist etc. Thus she started training abroad and participated in numerous international events.   Gradually, Bhavani started winning medals. Earlier, she had won medals in Asian and Commonwealth Championships. A fortnight ago, Bhavani’s joys had no bounds as she won her first gold medal in Women’s World Cup Satellite Saber Tournament in Iceland. Although she had won numerous medals before, this was her first medal in a world level competition. Being a temple priest’s daughter, taking up a combat sport and excelling in it was least expected of Bhavani as a teenager. She had taken up the sport in school just for fun, but soon developed a liking towards it. As she didn’t have the necessary equipment for the sport, she would practice with a stick. Her hard work and determination helped her to be outstanding in her field and win laurels for the country. Just as we have Mary Kom for boxing, Sania Mirza for tennis, P V Sindhu for badminton, let us all welcome Bhavani Devi from the world of fencing. May she be able to win many more championships and carve a niche for herself as a leading fencer.