Double delight for Bhavani Devi as Tamil Nadu emerges winners in the Women’s Team Sabre category
PUNE: CA Bhavani Devi, who was the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics, bagged the gold medal in the Women’s Individual Sabre category of the 33rd Senior National Fencing Championship which is being played at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Mhalunge-Balewadi.
The tournament is hosted by the Fencing Association of India in association with the Maharashtra Fencing Association and DY Patil International University.
Maharashtra Sports Department Deputy Director Anil Chormule, FAI Treasurer Bashir Ahmed, Maharashtra Fencing Association secretary Uday Dongare, FAI Joint Secretary Debendra Sahoo, former FAI secretary Ashok Dudhare, MFA working president Prakash Katule were present on the occasion and felicitated the medal winners.
It was a double delight for Bhavani Devi, as her team Tamil Nadu, also won the gold in the Women’s Sabre Team event, by outplaying Kerala 45-34 in the final.
In the women’s sabre individual category, Bhavani Devi’s clinched her 11th national title after she outplayed V Sunny Alka of Kerala 15-9 in a pulsating summit clash.
Bhavani Devi stormed into the final by prevailing over Punjab’s Jagmeet Kaur 15-11, while V Sunny Alka got the better of Haryana’ Aakhiri in another semi-final by 15-9.
Bhavani Devi got a walk-over in the round of 64 and then she defeated Ritu Prajapati 15-3 in a lop-sided contest in the round of 32.
In the pre-quarters, Bhavani Devi stamped her authority as she outclassed Punjab’s Husanpreet Kaur 15-2. In the quarter-finals, Rishika Khajuria was once again no match for Bhavani Devi, who easily won by 15-7.
In the Senior Women’s Foil category, Kerala’s Radhika Awati won the gold medal by outplaying her state-mate VP Kanagalakshmi 15-8.
Radhika had defeated Jammu and Kashmir’s Riya Bakshi 15-6 in the first semi-final while Kanagalakshmi got the better of Manipur’s Mina Naorem 15-7 in the second semi-final.
In the Women’s Sabre Team category, the Tamil Nadu team comprising CA Bhavani Devi, JS Jefarlin, M Tamil Selvi, and M R Beni Quebha, won the gold medal. The Kerala team comprising Christy Jose Jona, Reesha Puthussary, S Sowmiya, and V Sunny Alka, settled for a silver medal.
Tamil Nadu outclassed Kerala in the final with a score of 45-34. Tamil Nadu had first outplayed Punjab in the first semi-final 45-22, while Kerala got the better of hosts Maharashtra 45-39 in the second semi-final.
On Saturday, Haryana’s Prachi Lohan bagged the gold medal in the Women’s Individual Epee category in the 33rd Senior National Fencing Championship.
Meanwhile, in the Men’s Foil Individual Category, Manipur’s Hemash Sanasam won the gold medal after he defeated Ismile Khan (SSCB) in the final 13-12, which went down the wire.
Sanasam had marched into the final after overcoming the challenge of Bihar’s Akash Kumar (15-13), while Ismile Khan, who ended as runner-up, made it to the summit clash by defeating Haryana’s Dev 15-14 in another semi-final.
BOX:
Para-Badminton player Pramod Bhagat, who won gold in Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, and Sukant Kadam, a bronze medalist in Asian Para Championships and Asian Para Games, visited the tournament and extended good wishes to the participating fencers.
They were felicitated by FAI working president Bashir Ahmed, joint-secretary Devendra Sahoo, MFA Secretary Uday Dongare, and Delhi Fencing Association secretary Harpreet Singh.
KEY RESULTS:
Women’s Sabre Individual:
Semi-Finals: CA Bhavani Devi beats Jagmeet Kaur 15-11
V Sunny Alka beats Aakhiri – 15-9
Final: CA Bhavani Devi beats V Sunny Alka 15-9
Women’s Individual Epee
Semi-Finals: Tanisha Khatri beats Ena Arora 15-6
Prachi Lohan beats Gulia Tannu 15-14.
Final: Prachi Lohan beats Tanisha Khatri 15-14.
Women’s Individual Foil
Semi-Finals: Radhika Awati beats Riya Bakshi 15-6
VP Kanagalakshmi beats Mina Naorem 15-7
Finals: Radhika Awati beats VP Kanagalakshmi 15-8.
Women’s Sabre Team:
Semi-Finals: Kerala beats Maharashtra 45-39
Tamil Nadu beats Punjab 45-22
Final: Tamil Nadu beats Kerala 45-34
Men’s Individual Foil:
Semi-Finals: Ismile Khan beats Dev 15-14
Hemash Sanasam beats Akash Kumar 15-13
Final: Hemash Sanasam beats Ismile Khan 13-12
