Olympian Bhavani Devi bagged the gold medal in the women's individual sabre category at the 33rd Senior National Fencing Championship at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex on Sunday. 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, the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics, clinched her 11th national title after she outplayed V Sunny Alka of Kerala 15-9 in a pulsating summit clash.
Bhavani had stormed into the final by prevailing over Punjab’s Jagmeet Kaur 15-11, while V Sunny Alka got the better of Haryana’s Aakhiri 15-9 in another semi-final. Bhavani 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-quarterfinals, Bhavani 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, who easily won 15-7. In the senior women’s foil category, Kerala’s Radhika Awati won the gold medal, beating 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, Tamil Nadu, comprising Bhavani Devi, JS Jefarlin, M Tamil Selvi, M R Beni Quebha, won the gold medal after outclassing Kerala 45-34 in the final.
{{/usCountry}}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, Tamil Nadu, comprising Bhavani Devi, JS Jefarlin, M Tamil Selvi, M R Beni Quebha, won the gold medal after outclassing Kerala 45-34 in the final.
{{/usCountry}}The Kerala team comprised Christy Jose Jona, Reesha Puthussary, S Sowmiya and V Sunny Alka. 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.
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.