Who Is Bhavani Devi? First Indian To Win Medal In Asian Fencing Championship

 Indian fencer Bhavani shocked everyone by defeating the reigning world champion Misaki Emura of Japan in the quarter-finals by 15-10, marking her first win against the Japanese champion after earlier defeats in the past. 

Misaki earlier had won Gold in 2022 at World Fencing Championship in Cairo. Bhavani lost to Zaynab Dayibekova of Uzbekistan in a toilsome semifinal by a close fight of 14-15 in the women’s sabre event. However, she brought home a bronze medal from the Continental Championship event. 

Bhavani was flashed a red card by the referee for an ‘early start’ leading her to lose against Dayibekova in the semifinals of the last clash at 14-14. Bhavani asked for a video referral but was denied as the video referrals are provided only in ‘Blade Contact’. In earlier rounds, both the players had received the yellow cards as well.  

Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur taking to his Twitter congratulated Bhavani calling her “the ace sabre” for her win

Thakur tweeted, "Our ace sabre @IamBhavaniDevi scripts history at the 2023 Senior Asian Championships to win's 𝑭𝑰𝑹𝑺𝑻 𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑴𝑬𝑫𝑨𝑳 at the continental event. 

The phenomenal effort by #TOPScheme fencer to emerge victorious… pic.twitter.com/C4IXursyxx

𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐘 𝐁𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐈✨️

Our ace sabre 🤺 @IamBhavaniDevi scripts history at the 2023 Senior Asian Championships to win 🇮🇳's 𝑭𝑰𝑹𝑺𝑻 𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑴𝑬𝑫𝑨𝑳 at the continental event🔥

The General Secretary of Fencing Association India also congratulated Bhavani on her big win in a talk with PTI, calling her to win, “She has achieved what no one could achieve before.” 

The 29-year-old Fencer, Bhavani told in a talk with The Hindu that it feels great to win a Bronze for the country in Asian Meet. Telling that beating Masaki was huge for her as Misaki is a good and consistent fencer. She said that she has lost to Masaki in previous Asians in the round of 16 but this time her plan worked. This big win in the event gave impetus to Bhavani for The World Championship held in Milan this July.  

C.A. Bhavani Devi hailing from Chennai is an Indian sabre fencer who became the first Indian Fencer to qualify for the Olympics and the first Indian to win a medal in Asian Fencing Championship. Watch the video of the sabre fencer ace taking India to the podium here. 

Devi was born in Chennai to a Telugu family. The family moved from Samalkot town, Andhra Pradesh to Chennai. Devi did her schooling at Muruga Dhanushkodi Girls Higher Secondary, Chennai, where she started her sports career in 2004. After passing out she joined the SAI (Sports Authority of India) Centre in Thalassery, Kerala. She participated in her first international tournament in Turkey. In 2010, she bagged a Bronze medal at Asian Championship in the Philippines 

 Suggested Reading: Chhattisgarh Teen Chandrakala Registers Guinness World Record: Swims For Eight Hours On The Go