CA Bhavani Devi of Tamil Nadu has become the first-ever Indian fencer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Bhavani secured a spot in the World Cup in Hungary after the hosts lost in the quarterfinals of the team event, allowing South Korea to progress to the semi-final.
Key Points
- Bhavani Devi qualifies through the Adjusted Official Ranking (AOR) Method.
- Two individual spots were up for grabs for the Asia and Oceania region based on the World Rankings as of April 5, 2021.
- She is ranked 45th and occupies one of the two available slots based on the ranking.
- Bhavani’s qualification will be confirmed after the rankings will be made official.
- The eight-time national champion had failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
- However, she stepped up efforts to secure qualification for the Tokyo games and continued to train in Italy under coach Nicola Zanotti before the COVID-19-induced shutdown halted the qualification process.
- The Tokyo Olympics scheduled to be held in 2020 were put off owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 this year.
- SAI coach Sagar Lagu, who trained Bhavani Devi at the SAI centre in Thalassery, Kerala from 2008 to 2015, said she had qualified due to her hard work and dedication.
Bhavani Devi, who is the first Indian fencer to win gold at an international event, did not let the COVID-19 enforced lockdown affect her preparations and had trained with coach Zanotti having online sessions.