It was a double delight for Devi as her team Tamil Nadu also won the gold in the Women’s Sabre Team event by outplaying Kerala 45-34 in the final. (Express Photo)CA Bhavani Devi, the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics, bagged the gold medal in the Women’s Individual Sabre category of the 33rd Senior National Fencing Championship being played at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Mhalunge-Balewadi on Sunday.
The tournament is being hosted by Fencing Association of India in association with Maharashtra Fencing Association and DY Patil International University.
It was a double delight for Devi as her team Tamil Nadu also won the gold in the Women’s Sabre Team event by outplaying Kerala 45-34 in the final.
In the women’s sabre individual category, Devi clinched her 11th national title after she outplayed V Sunny Alka of Kerala 15-9 in a pulsating summit clash.
Devi stormed into the final by prevailing over Punjab’s Jagmeet Kaur 15-11 while Alka got the better of Haryana’ Aakhiri in another semi-final by 15-9.
Devi got a walk-over in the round of 64 after which she defeated Ritu Prajapati 15-3 in a lopsided contest in round of 32.
Maharashtra Sports Department Deputy Director Anil Chormule, FAI Treasurer Bashir Ahmed, Maharashtra Fencing Association Secretary Uday Dongare, FAI Joint Secretary Debendra Sahoo, former FAI Secretary Ashok Dudhare and MFA working president Prakash Katule felicitated the medal winners.
In the Senior Women’s Foil category, Kerala’s Radhika Awati won the gold medal by outplaying VP Kanagalakshmi from her state 15-8.
In the Women’s Sabre Team category, Tamil Nadu team comprising Devi, JS Jefarlin, M Tamil Selvi and M R Beni Quebha won the gold medal. Kerala team comprising Christy Jose Jona, Reesha Puthussary, S Sowmiya and V Sunny Alka settled for a silver medal.
Kerala got the better of hosts Maharashtra 45-39 in the second semi-final.
Meanwhile, in the Men’s Foil Individual Category, Manipur’s Hemash Sanasam won the gold medal after he defeated Ismile Khan in the final 13-12, which went down to the wire.
Sanasam marched into the final after overcoming the challenge of Bihar’s Akash Kumar (15-13), while Khan, who ended as runner-up, made it to the summit clash by defeating Haryana’s Dev 15-14 in another semi-final.
Para Badminton player Pramod Bhagat, who won gold in Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, and Sukant Kadam, a bronze medalist in Asian Para Championships and Asian Para Games, visited the tournament venue and extended wishes to the participating fencers.