GUWAHATI: Tamil Nadu-based Chartered Accountant (CA) Bhavani Devi has become the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics. She will represent India in Tokyo Summer Olympics Games which will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021.
The games were originally set to take place from July 24 to August 9, but were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two individual spots were up for the grabs for the Asia and Oceania region based on the World Rankings as of April 5, 2021. She was ranked 45th and therefore occupied one of the two slots based on the Adjusted Official Ranking Method available based on the ranking.
Chandalvada Anandha Sundhararaman Bhavani Devi was born on August 27, 1993 into a middle-class family in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Her father was a priest and her mother was a homemaker. She started her career in sports in the year 2003. She is supported by Gosports Foundation through the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme.
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju congratulated Bhavani Devi on her qualifying for the Olympics.
"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 wishes to @IamBhavaniDevi," he tweeted.
Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach, Sagar Lagu who trained Bhavani Devi at the SAI center in Thalassery, Kerela from 2008 to 2015 said, “I am delighted for her. She was trying to qualify for the Olympics from 2012. This is the first time any Indian fencer has qualified for the Olympics”, he said. “It is due to her hard work and dedication that she has secured qualifications for the Tokyo games”.
The eight-time national champion Bhavani Devi had earlier 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.
