Cut above rest: Fencer Bhavani makes history
NEW DELHI: Around this time last year, CA Bhavani Devi faced a dilemma. Training in Livorno, Italy, with reputed coach Nicola Zanotti, Bhavani was inching closer to getting to where no Indian fencer had ever before— the Olympics. That was until the coronavirus pandemic halted her charge. To add to her woes, Italy was fast becoming one of the worst hit countries at that point. So, Bhavani had to decide soon whether to continue her training there or return to India.
With international borders shutting down, Bhavani just about managed to get back home in Chennai before the lockdown was enforced in the country. The Women’s Sabre World Cup in Belgium from March 20 that year, which she was preparing for, was also cancelled. The Tokyo Olympics was pushed forward by a year and making it there for Bhavani seemed farther away than ever before.
Even while her anxious wait was riddled with a fresh set of challenges, the 27-year-old found ways to counter it—be it training without a sparring partner on her house terrace or receiving online classes from her coach Zanotti during the lockdown. Eight months passed doing just that, before she flew to Livorno in November (upon the easing of travel restrictions) and restarted proper training.
Her reward for keeping at it was reaped on Sunday. At the
Sabre World Cup in Budapest, Hungary, Bhavani finally made her trailblazing cut, sealing a spot in the women’s individual sabre event for the postponed Tokyo Games later this year. In the process, she became the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics. Bhavani’s significant strides in sabre fencing—the quickest and most aggressive of the three fencing styles—over the last couple of years boosted her rankings to world No 42. All she needed to do was maintain that spot and wish for things to go her way at the World Cup. They did. The Korean team beat Hungary in the quarter-finals and reserved their Olympics berth through team rankings. It meant Bhavani is now certain to grab one of the two individual spots reserved for Asia and Oceania zone in the world rankings (through the Adjusted Official Ranking), which will be official on April 5. In the individual competition, Bhavani got a bye in the first round before losing to Renata Katona of Hungary, 10-15.
“Last year was very tough for me because I worked very hard for the last few years to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. But it was not in anybody’s control and after it was announced that the Olympics had been postponed, I felt a bit calmer,” Bhavani had said earlier. Bhavani has carved a name for India in a sport that has little pedigree, history and training facilities in the country. Every step was a hard grind for her and her family. Her mother, CA Ramani, is a housewife and late father, C Sundararaman, was a priest; they did everything to support their youngest daughter’s dream after she took to the sport in school in 2004.
But opportunities to grow in the sport were limited in India. Bhavani knew she had to train abroad to shine at the highest level. In 2013, she even toyed with the idea of leaving the sport. “My family had spent a lot of money. There were several business people who also came forward to sponsor me. But still the equipment expense is very high and I was tired of organising all those things,” she said. “I had thought of giving up.”
But, again, she kept at it, before help came in the form of the Go Sports Foundation scholarship programme. Bhavani shifted to Italy in 2016, determined to qualify for Tokyo. With every international medal, Bhavani has taken the sport to newer heights in the country. She is an eight-time national champion, with medals at the Commonwealth Championships and Asian Championship. She won her first major international event at Turnoi Satellite Fencing Championships in Reykjavik in 2018. Now she will represent her nation at the Olympics.