Bhavani Devi's huge breakthrough with Asian bronze

For over a year as she shifted her training base from Italy to France post the Tokyo Olympics, an inconsistent Bhavani Devi patiently waited for results to complement her sense of refinement from the change.

That came in the form of a historic individual bronze in sabre at the Asian Fencing Championships on Monday in Wuxi, China, where India’s first Olympic fencer also became its first to medal at the senior continental event.

The 29-year-old achieved the biggest victory of her career by beating world champion and world No. 1 Emura Misaki of Japan 15-10 to enter the semi-finals. Eyeing the final and an upgrade in the medal colour, she lost to Uzbekistan's Zaynab Dayibekova, the eventual champion, in a close 15-14 finish.

Fencing is the stronghold of China, Japan and South Korea in Asia and no Indian fencer had come close to a medal at the senior Asian tournament since it was first held in 1973. Bhavani, whose breakthrough for Indian fencing came with her debut at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, had won medals in junior Asian meets, but had not gone past the quarter-finals at senior level. Coming in the build-up to the Hangzhou Asian Games in September-October, this medal carries great significance for Indian fencing.

“This medal is very precious for me, and also very important for India. I've been waiting for this for a very long time,” Bhavani, who finished 13th in the last edition, said from Wuxi. “I know it's a bronze, but it's a good result for my persistent efforts.”

After a first-round bye, the 49th-ranked Bhavani got past world No.40 Ozaki Seri of Japan 15-11 in the Round of 16. Next up was Misaki, the 2022 Cairo Worlds champion, who had beaten Bhavani in their three previous meetings. The last was at last year's Asian Championships in Seoul where the 24-year-old Japanese won 15-7.

“Emura is a very strong fencer and she has been consistent over the last two seasons. Last time I knew I was a little bit fast; I analysed and understood my mistakes from that. Today I wanted to do my best and fight till the end. Win or lose, I just wanted to execute my strategy all throughout," Bhavani said.

It has been a rocky ride for her since a defining Tokyo Olympics. Propelled by her former coach, Bhavani shifted her training base from Italy, moving to train in France under coach Christian Bauer, who has coached Olympic medallists. The fencer from Tamil Nadu took time to adjust and adapt to the completely alien training style, set up and surroundings.

A gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Championship aside, it was a largely inconsistent and fruitless show by Bhavani over the last 18 months even though she felt the improvements within her during training. She hoped it would, at some point, translate into results.

“I have always believed in myself, believed in my training. I kept training hard, hoping that one day I will do something better than my previous results. That has shown with this result. I’m happy about that," Bhavani said.

In a season where she hasn't had a top-20 finish in either at a World Cup or Grand Prix, the Asian medal provides the kind of boost Bhavani has craved. Even more so with the World Championships and Asian Games to follow this year.

“This medal gives me more confidence and assures me that I'm on the right path. I want to work harder and get better results, especially at the Worlds and Asian Games," she said.

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