Aichi, September 24 (Daily Kiran) : India’s journey in fencing at the 2026 Asian Games came to an end without any medals. On Thursday, the women’s individual sabre event saw experienced fencers C.A. Bhavani Devi and Shreya Gupta eliminated in the pre-quarter finals.
Despite facing tough competition during the pool stage, Bhavani managed to secure a place in the pre-quarter finals. However, she could not advance beyond the round of 16. In the pool stage, Bhavani suffered three defeats: 1-5 against South Korea‘s Jeongmi Kim, 4-5 to Iran’s Nazmeh Sajanijian, and 4-5 against Uzbekistan’s Zainab Dayibekova.
Nonetheless, she kept her hopes alive by defeating Kazakhstan’s Aigerim Saribe 5-4 and Thailand’s Arisara Somphao 5-2. Bhavani then triumphed over Mongolia’s Olen Tugsjargal 15-8 in the round of 32, securing her spot in the pre-quarter finals.
Her campaign ultimately ended against China’s Rao Zui, the silver medalist from the 2026 World Championships, who won decisively with a score of 15-5. Shreya also reached the round of 16 but was halted by South Korea‘s Jeon Ha-young, a silver medalist from the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics, who defeated her 15-6.
Bhavani, who made history as India’s first fencer to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, made her return to the Asian Games stage after participating in the Asian Senior Fencing Championship earlier this year. She had been away from competitive events for nearly two months prior to this.
To prepare for the Asian Games, the selected Indian fencers participated in a national training camp held at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala from September 1 to 15. The Indian team departed for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on September 16, selected by the Fencing Association of India based on their performances in various championships, including the Asian Senior Fencing Championship and the Commonwealth Fencing Championship.
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