CHENNAI: INDIA fencer Bhavani Devi lost to Poland’s Malgorzata Kozaczuk in the second round of World Cup in Athens on Friday. Devi, who flew out from the coronavirus-hit Italy, to the Greek capital on Thursday, advanced from the group stages and the first round before gown down to the Polish athlete 13-15 in the sabre division. 

She will return to her training base in Livorno — on the west coast of Italy — before leaving for another competition in Belgium in the third week of March. Interestingly, the International Fencing Federation (IFF) came out with a coronavirus-related advisory on Thursday, indicating that players should drop the habit of shaking hands. “Maintain social distance,” one of the pointers read. “Fencers salute only by weapon.” 

Meanwhile, the Sports Authority of India has suspended biometric attendance across all centres. “The coronavirus is taking a gigantic shape. In a day or two, we will come out with an order to temporarily suspend biometric attendance for our employees in all our centres,” a top SAI official said. “It is one of the precautionary measures we are taking to control the spread of the deadly disease.” The SAI centre in Gandhinagar on Friday conducted a workshop on coronavirus for its officials and athletes.