Asian Fencing Championships 2022 | Tokyo Olympian Bhavani Devi to lead the Indian Team
Bhavani Devi, a Tokyo Olympian, will captain a 24-member Indian squad at the Asian Fencing Championships 2022, which begins on June 10 in Seoul, South Korea. The men's and women's contests will be held in the saber, epee, and foil sections of the continental fencing championships.
In each division, India has sent four men and four women. The top Indian fencer in the meet will be Bhavani Devi, who was the first-ever Indian fencer to compete in the Olympic Games last year. Bhavani won three Asian medals: silver in 2014, bronze in 2015, and team bronze in 2010. She'll be in the women's sabre competitions.
The Asian squad was chosen based on the results of the 32nd Senior National Fencing Championship, which took place in March. Abi Laishram, who fell in the sabre final against Bhavani Devi, has also been chosen for the Asian championships. Bhavani, 28, is a member of the Indian sports ministry's Target Olympics Podium Scheme and is presently rated 40th in the world.
Indian fencers will compete in each category's men's, women's, and mixed team competitions. In men's sabre, world No. 81 Gisho Nidhi Kumaresan Padma is the best-ranked Indian, while in men's epee, world No. 161 Sunil Kumar will lead India's effort. Arjun will compete in the men's foil event, where he is rated 531st in the world. Radhika Prakash, rated 206th in the world, will participate in women's epee, while Taniksha Khatri, who is ranked 180 in the world, will participate in women's foil.
Squad
Foil men's: Arjun, Dev, Kathiresan Bibish, Velautham Vinoth Kumar
Foil women's: Radhika Prakash Awati, Maria Akshita Ciril Rajdev, Isha, Khusboorani Laishram
Sabre men's: Gisho Nidhi Kumaresan Padma, Abhay Krishna Shinde, Karan Singh, Vishal Thapar
Sabre women's: Bhavani Devi, Khanak Kaushik, Abi Laishram, Vedika Khushi Ravana
Epee men's: Girish Vaibhav Jakate, Sunil Kumar, Rajendra Shanthimol Sherjin, Udaivir Singh
Epee women's: Khushi Dabhade, Tannu Gulia, Yashkeerat Kaur Hayer, Taniksha Khatri