Ever heard of fencing before? I did. Long back when I was in school, during the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Then I saw it again a couple of years later during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. First thoughts? Well, I didn’t understand much to start with. It took me a long time to actually generate some interest in the game to put effort into knowing how the game works. Maybe because it’s one of those Olympic sports where we hardly see any Indian participation at all, the game is dominated by Italy and France who are almost neck to neck when it comes to winning medals in the sport at the Olympics, and then there’s another country from central Europe called Hungary who’s another heavyweight in the sport, not to the level of the other two I mentioned probably, but take nothing away from them.
So, Bhavani Devi, she’s someone who actually instilled that interest in the sport of fencing. It wasn’t when I saw her play that I became fond of her, but I accidentally stumbled upon some of her interviews and I was really impressed to see someone in our country as passionate about fencing and want to make it big one day. When the news came out a few weeks about Bhavani Devi being the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympic games, it felt so good and the fact that I have seen the way her game has grown over the past 2-3 years, this just made me really proud.
Do you also feel like this sometimes, that when you follow an athlete, an artist or anyone for that matter, someone you don’t know personally but you know they have the potential and attributes to do it and one day they finally arrive in the limelight? It feels good right?
C.A. Bhavani Devi, born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, was introduced to fencing at the age of 11, back in her school, in 2004. She’s blessed with supportive parents, who realized the talent in their daughter in the initial stages, and put her in an SAI Training Centre in Thrissur, Kerala as soon as she finished her 10th class.
Fencing is a combat sport that has three major disciplines: foil, epee, and sabre. Modern fencing was one of the first games to be included in the Olympics and was developed in Italy, using the elements of ancient swordsmanship and martial art of classical fencing. Okay, so that’s why the Italians are so good at this sport?
Bhavani Devi mainly competes in the sabre event, and played her first international tournament in Turkey, when she was just 14. Initially, she had to do everything by herself, from planning her travels for different events to training to managing her schedule, without any financial support from anyone. That hampered her bid to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, but she certainly stood out in the Indian fencing community as one of the contenders who can achieve big things, if provided with proper training, mentorship, and economical support. Her performances in the multiple editions of Commonwealth Championship and Asian Championship earned her support from the GoSports Foundation through their Rahul Dravid Mentorship Programme, in 2016.
Personality and Mindset
Well, I talked earlier about how her personality made me follow her journey right? It’s because when you hear someone speak, share their thoughts on social media, you can sense from where it’s coming from, what it means to them and it reflects the person they are. And in the case of Bhavani Devi, she oozes positivity, doesn’t regret missed chances, is content with the progress she’s making but always has an eye to get better every day.
Fencing is one of those five sports which has been part of all the Olympic games since the start but in India, I don’t know how many people have ever heard of it. Bhavani is very well aware of this situation and on most occasions carries the Indian contingent in the world championships and various meets, being the only athlete from the country who qualifies consistently for these events. The lack of support over the years and not having proper facilities has only pushed her to find more solutions to all these challenges and she’s someone who’s always in search of the brighter side in every situation. She’s the perfect example of, ‘if you really want to do it, absolutely go for it and keep finding the ways to get better and keep believing in your journey.’
The blueprint to reach Tokyo
The road to Tokyo started way back in 2016 for Bhavani Devi. As soon as she fell short in qualifying for Rio, she knew where she had gone wrong and what were areas that she lacked in. The motivation was doubled and this time she had some experience to go with as well.
The support she received from the GoSports Foundation really helped her to focus on her game. She started focusing more on her diet and nutrition, had to cut out a lot of stuff that she would normally eat, had to stay away from family functions and special occasions to stay focused on her game. Training here in India wasn’t possible if she wanted to pursue the Olympic dream, so she was introduced to Mr. Nicola Zanetti, who’s an Italian fencing coach, who took Bhavani under his mentorship. She’s training with Nicola for the past five years now in Livorno, Italy. She undergoes numerous fitness sessions per week, works on her technique, and practices the Sabre at least twice per day, and knows the importance of footwork and physical fitness as well as the mental strength required to compete at the highest level.
More Over, being the only athlete from India at the elite level of fencing, and having traveled across the world alone from such a young age, she’s got that mental toughness and knows what she should focus on to realize her dreams. The sport she plays is a combat sport and danger comes written all over it, which never fazes her though, in fact, she loves the challenge and the courage is naturally instilled in her, for which her parents have to be credited immensely.
Qualification scenarios and how it all happened
The lockdown as we know hampered every sport around the world and fencing was no exception. It pushed the events further and complicated the qualifying scenarios for everyone. The main aim of her throughout the stay at home was to keep up with the fitness levels that she had before the lockdown and try to improve in some of the key areas like her footwork and overall strength. The India number-1 left no time as soon as she was presented an opportunity to go back and resume training in Livorno with her coach.
There were two qualifying scenarios for the world number-42. There were two spots which are reserved for the Asia-Oceania region for the individual fencers and had South Korea manage to finish fourth or more in the team event of the Sabre world cup which recently concluded in Budapest, Bhavani Devi would be guaranteed one of those spots.
The other scenario was more so in her own hands, which was the final qualifying event in Seoul in few months just before the Olympic games.
Fortunately for her, South Korea did manage to finish the top-4 which automatically ensured her qualification to the games, making her not just the first women fencer, but the first fencer ever in history from India to qualify for the Summer Olympics.
Overwhelming emotions and an eye on the future
More than anything, it was a sense of relief for her. After having to see it go away before Rio in 2016, to push herself back, train even harder and not losing sight of her goal is what made her 17-18 years of journey all worth it.
The qualification isn’t the end of it, and who else but Bhavani Devi knows it very well. The next step is to do well at the games and see what happens next, and then again to keep up with the good work and be consistent, she surely has many more great years of Sabre in her.
A sport which very few people know of as I talked earlier, and not a lot of people knew who she was (many people are yet to know her still) and to come out and achieve something like this, is exactly what Bhavani Devi and the sport of fencing needed. This is where not just her dream gets fulfilled, but this is also the day when many youngsters in our country start looking at her and get interested in the sport, start to dream about reaching the same heights and more when they grow up, and this is what gives us hope and happiness.