Tokyo Olympics: Fencer Bhavani Devi creates history after placing Indian flag on the Olympic map

Bhavani Devi

India’s first-ever athlete to represent the nation in fencing at any Olympic edition, Chadalavada Anandha Sundararaman Bhavani Devi aka C. A. Bhavani Devi recorded a special accomplishment on day four at Tokyo 2020. She won her Women’s Sabre Individual Table of 64 bout against Tunisian fencer Nadia Ben Azizi 15-3.

After a delay in the start of her match, Bhavani Devi raced away to gain a lead of 8-0 within a few moments. She was playing against a lower-ranked opponent and hence, she never let the Tunisian fencer make a comeback in the match. Azizi never looked like getting momentum as Bhavani was playing with sheer aggression.

With this historic victory, the world number 42 booked a bout against world number 3 and 4th seed Manon Brunet of France.

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Unfortunate exit with a defeat against Brunet

Bhavani Devi’s dream run at the Tokyo Summer Olympics came to an end after she suffered a 7-15 defeat against France’s M. Brunet in their Women’s Sabre Individual Table of 32 clash.

Their opening bout was extremely tactful as there were a lot of points that had to be played again in the initial stages. However, the French fencer kept pushing Bhavani Devi back and seized an impressive 8-2 lead.

India’s lone representative in fencing at Tokyo 2020, Bhavani came back stronger in the subsequent round to gain a few good points. But she fell way short against an experienced opponent as Brunet comfortably won the match in the end.

Irrespective of her today’s result, every Indian supporter should be really proud of the way C. A. Bhavani Devi fought at her debut Games. The 2015 Asian Championships silver medalist has come a long way to place the Indian flag on the Olympic map on an iconic day for the sports realm of her country.

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