Tokyo-bound Bhavani Devi bags ninth senior national fencing title
In the men's sabre individual event, defending champion Karan Singh went down to Kumaresan Padma Gisho Nidhi
CA Bhavani Devi, who became the first Indian fencer to qualify for Olympics last week, stamped her authority on the domestic scene by winning her ninth title in the Senior National Fencing Championships at the Delhi Public School in Rudrapur.
Representing Tamil Nadu, Bhavani was on song from the preliminary round in the competition. She outclassed Jaspreet Kaur from Jammu and Kashmir 15-2 in a lopsided opening pool match in the women’s sabre individual event before overcoming a stiff contest from Telangana's Baby Reddy, where she won by a 15-14 margin, to enter the quarterfinals.
Bhavani continued to maintain her focus as she beat Jagmeet Kaur from Punjab 15-7 in the last eight.The 27-year-old then defeated K Anitha 15-4 to enter the final.
In the summit clash, Devi made light work of the challenge from her opponent as she defeated Joshna Joseph from Kerala with a 15-7 margin.
Meanwhile, in the men's sabre Individual final, Kumaresan Padma Gisho Nidhi of the Services registered a massive upset as he defeated defending champion Karan Singh from Rajasthan.
Surprisingly, Karan was at the top of his game at the recently held men’s sabre World Cup in Budapest. The 20-year-old incredibly upstaged World No. 19 Konstantin Lokhanov from Russia 5-4 to enter the knockout stage of the tournament.
Avanti Radhika Prakash from Kerala retained the women’s foil individual title with a victory over Manipur-based Laishram Khusboorani, a bronze medallist from the previous edition. Thoibi Wanglembam Devi and Phamdom Anita Chanu bagged the third spot on the podium.
Chingakham Jetlee Singh from Goa clinched the gold medal in the men's epee event with a win over Rajendran Shanthimol Sherjin in the final.
Arjun, from the Services, a bronze medal winner in the previous edition, bettered his performance to clinch the men's foil gold with a victory over K. Bebish.