A six-member Indian fencing team, spearheaded by Bhavani Devi, will represent the country at the Asia Oceania Zonal Qualifiers for the Paris Olympics in Fujairah,UAE this weekend.
The two-day zonal Olympic fencing qualifiers will see individual competitions in the sabre, epee and foil disciplines for both genders. India have sent one fencer in each of the six events.
Bhavani Devi, the first Indian to compete in fencing at the Olympics in Tokyo 2020, will be the top-ranked fencer in the women’s sabre event.
She is world No. 33 and her biggest challenge is expected to be Australia’s Veronika Vasileva, who is 14 places below in the rankings. Only one fencer per event will obtain an Olympic quota for their respective countries.
The 30-year-old Bhavani Devi is a two-time Commonwealth champion and won India’s first-ever medal, a bronze, at the Asian Fencing Championships last year.
She defeated the world champion and then world No. 1 Misaki Emura of Japan on her way to winning the Asian medal.
Bhavani Devi will be joined by Taniksha Khatri (women’s epee), Dev (men’s foil), Karan Singh (men’s sabre), Udaivir Singh (men’s epee), Joys Ashitha Stalinraj (women’s foil) at the Olympic fencing qualifiers. Taniksha Khatri and Dev were part of India’s squad at the Asian Games last year.
India are yet to obtain a quota in fencing for the Paris Games. The qualifying path for the Olympics through rankings ended on April 1 with none of the Indian fencers able to secure their spots.
The Asia Oceania zonal qualifier is the final opportunity for Indian fencers to obtain quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Team:
Women’s sabre: Bhavani Devi (world No. 33)
Men’s sabre: Karan Singh (world No. 72)
Women’s epee: Taniksha Khatri (world No. 92)
Men’s epee: Udaivir Singh (world No. 179)
Women’s foil: Joys Ashitha Stalinraj (world No. 564)
Men’s foil: Dev (world No. 212)