<p>After losing in the women’s sabre semifinal at the Asian Fencing Championships in Wuxi, China, Olympian C A Bhavani Devi made history on Monday by winning India’s first-ever medal in the continental competition, a bronze.</p>
<p>Bhavani fell short against Zaynab Dayibekova of Uzbekistan 14–15 in the semifinal match, but she gave India its first medal in the illustrious competition.<img decoding=”async” loading=”lazy” class=”alignnone wp-image-30500″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/www.theindiaprint.com-download-2023-06-19t172928.216-11zon.png” alt=”” width=”1024″ height=”872″ /></p>
<p>In the quarterfinals, Bhavani had previously upset the defending world champion Misaki Emura of Japan 15-10, making history.</p>
<p>At the Cairo 2022 World Fencing Championships, Misaki had won the gold medal in the women’s sabre division.</p>
<p>Bhavani had previously lost all of her bouts against the Japanese, making it her first victory against Misaki.</p>
<p>Before defeating Kazakhstan’s Dospay Karina in the next round, the 29-year-old Bhavani enjoyed a bye in the round of 64.</p>
<p>The third-seeded Ozaki Seri was defeated by Bhavani 15-11 in the preliminary round.</p>
<p>Rajeev Mehta, secretary general of the Fencing Association of India, congratulated Bhavani on her historic accomplishment.</p>
<p>“Indian fencing can be quite proud of this day. Bhavani has accomplished what no one else has in the past. She is the first fencer from India to take home a medal from the esteemed Asian Championships. I congratulate her on behalf of the whole fencing fraternity,” Mehta said to PTI.</p>
<p>“The match was quite tight even though she lost in the semifinal. It was only a question of point. So, it’s a significant improvement.</p>
<p>At the Tokyo Olympics, Bhavani Devi, the first fencer from India to earn an Olympic berth, lost in the round of 32.</p>
