Olympian C A Bhavani Devi created history by securing India's first-ever medal, a bronze, at the Asian Fencing Championships in Wuxi, China. Bhavani lost to Uzbekistan's Zaynab Dayibekova in a hard-fought semifinal of the women's sabre event by a 14-15 scoreline, but ensured India its maiden medal in the prestigious event.
Bhavani had earlier stunned reigning world champion Misaki Emura of Japan 15-10 in the quarterfinals to script history. Misaki had won the women's sabre gold medal at the 2022 World Fencing Championships held in Cairo.
It was Bhavani's first win over Misaki in four attempts, as she had lost all her previous matches against the Japanese fencer in the past.
29-year-old Bhavani had received a bye in the round of 64 before beating Dospay Karina of Kazakhstan in the next round. Bhavani then upset third seed Ozaki Seri 15-11 in the pre-quarterfinals.
Bhavani Devi, who became the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics, had exited in the round of 32 at the Tokyo Games. Once ranked 36th in the world in the 2016/17 season, Bhavani's rank dipped to 49th in the world in the 2022/23 season.
This third placed finish is the best of the current season, with 26th place in a World Cup in February of this year at Tashkent, Uzbekistan being her best prior to that.
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Fencing Association of India secretary-general Rajeev Mehta congratulated Bhavani on her historic achievement.
"It is a very proud day for Indian fencing. Bhavani has achieved what no one could achieve before. She is the first Indian fencer to win a medal at the prestigious Asian Championships. On behalf of the entire fencing fraternity, I congratulate her," Mehta told PTI.
"Although she lost in the semifinal, the contest was very close. It was a matter of just one point. So it's a big improvement."