Who is Bhavani Devi, India's first fencing athlete to appear in Tokyo Olympics 2020?

Chadalavada Anandha Sundh Bhavani aka C A Bhavani Devi on Monday scripted history in the Fencing event at Tokyo 2020 by winning the opening match against Tunisia's Nadia Ben Azizi. The Indian fencer completely dominated her Tunisian opponent to win her match 15-3 in just over six minutes. The Indian contingent who had a below-par day on Sunday will be hoping to do well on Monday. Bhavani Devi is competing in the women’s individual sabre. Her official FIE rank is 42 and she is seeded 29 at the Games out of 36 competitors in her category.

About C. A. Bhavani Devi career in the Fencing game 

Born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu was introduced to fencing games at the school level. The Chennai fencer trained with the Italian national team under coach Nicola Zanotti at Livorno, Italy since April this year. Bhavani’s international career as a fencer started with a black card (disqualification) when she turned up three minutes late for her match in Turkey in 2007.
She rose through the ranks in the domestic circuit before winning a bronze medal at the 2009 Commonwealth Fencing Championships, her first international medal. Bhavani Devi is also the first Indian to win a silver medal at the Asian Championships and is also the first from the nation to win the Commonwealth Championships, registering her victory at the 2019 edition in Canberra, Australia. 

Fencing Olympic games Tokyo 2020: C. A. Bhavani Devi scripts history

Bhavani Devi fencing at the Tokyo Olympics will be marked as a historic day in India's sports as the country made it's debut in a discipline that has featured at the Summer Games since 1896. Bhavani Devi made the golden chance count after coming close to qualifying for the Rio Olympics in 2016. The Indian fencer made a cautious start against her Tunisian opponent and was comfortable letting Azizi initiate the attack, however, she hardly allowed the Tunisian to build on the ‘right of way’ as she pinned her time and again to pocket her points.

In sabre, the ‘right of way’ rule is used to determine which fencer gets awarded the points in case of both the athletes registering a touch. Under this rule, priority is given to the fencer who initiates the attack. Strong on her defence, Devi was quick to cancel out her opponent’s advances. The Indian punished Azizi and raced to an 8-0 lead in the first period. In the second, Bhavani Devi attacked and created openings at will for her points to seal her win. The Indian will next face world No. 3 Manon Brunet of France next.

(With inputs from Olympic website)

Image: CA Bhavani Devi / Facebook