Bhavani Devi wins India’s first ever medal in Asian Fencing C’ships

India’s top fencer Bhavani Devi made history on Monday when she took a bronze medal in the women’s saber event at the Asian Fencing Championships.

Wuxi, (China), June 19: India’s top fencer Bhavani Devi made history on Monday when she took a bronze medal in the women’s saber event at the Asian Fencing Championships.

This remarkable achievement was India’s first medal in the continental meet.

Bhavani defeated the reigning world champion and world No. 1 Misaki Emura of Japan 15-10 in the quarter-finals of the women’s saber event. It was also the Indian’s first victory over the Japanese in four encounters.

The 29-year-old settled for bronze after narrowly losing 15-14 to Uzbek No. 79 Zaynab Dayibekova in the semi-finals.

Earlier, the Indian fencer already received a bye in the first round. She defeated world No. 95 Dospay Karina of Kazakhstan 15-13 in the next round and stunned world No. 40 and third seed Seri Ozaki of Japan 15-11 in the pre-quarterfinals.

The 29-year-old became the first Indian fencer to represent India in the Olympics when she competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.