India’s international sabre fencer Bhavani Devi has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics starting July 23 by virtue of improving her world ranking to 42, confirmed by the Fencing Association of India.
The 27-year-old from Chennai is the first Indian fencer ever to make the cut for the Olympics. She qualified for the Games at the Budapest World Cup, an Olympic qualifying competition, on Sunday.
Congratulations to Indian fencer Bhavani Devi who has qualified for Tokyo Olympics! She has become the 1st ever Indian fencer to achieve the feat. My best wished to @IamBhavaniDevi pic.twitter.com/NFGJzuB4Dx
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) March 14, 2021
“There were two Olympics quota places in the Asia Oceania group. A Japanese fencer was the first while Bhavani was second,” Bashir Ahmed Khan, secretary-general of Fencing Association of India, told IANS.
The Indian fencer was training in Italy in November to prepare for the first major global competition in Budapest, said…