Bhavani Devi will lead the 24-strong Indian team at the World Fencing Championships 2023.
The Indian contingent is set to compete in all 12 events at Milan 2023, making it a strong representation from the nation.
Fencers from over 150 countries are gearing up to compete in the highly anticipated event, which is scheduled to take place in Milan, Italy, from July 22 to 30. The championship holds immense significance as it offers qualifying points for the prestigious Paris 2024 Olympics.
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The Milan Convention Center (MiCo) will play host to the world's top fencers as they vie for glory in three categories: foil, epee, and sabre, in both individual and team events. The individual events will take place from July 22 to 27, while the team events are scheduled from July 27 to 30.
The Milan World Fencing Championships is even more crucial as that it is the only world championship taking place during the Olympic fencing qualifying ranking window, which commenced on April 3, 2023, and will conclude on April 1, 2024.
Bhavani Devi remains the only Indian fencer to have competed in the Olympics. She won India's first-ever medal at the Asian Fencing Championships last month.
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In the quarterfinal, Bhavani Devi stunned reigning world champion Misaki Emura of Japan with a remarkable 15-10 victory. It was her first victory over her Japanese counterpart in four meetings.
It was a hard-fought win as Emura produced a stunning comeback from being 2-8 down to make it 10-10.
She could have finished either with silver or even gold if only she had an ounce of luck in the semifinal. After an intense battle, she suffered a heartbreaking defeat by just one point to eventual winner Uzbekistan’s world No. 79 Zaynab Dayibekova.
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India are yet to clinch a medal at the World Fencing Championships, which was established in 1921, and the ace fencer will look to amend the record for the better.
Fencing World Championships 2023: India squad
Men’s sabre: Gisho Nidhi Kumaresan Padma, Abhay Krishna Shinde, Karan Singh, Vishal Thapar
Women’s sabre: C. A. Bhavani Devi, Josna Christy Jose, Jagmeet Kaur, Rishika Khajuria
Men’s epee: Sunil Kumar, Shankar Pandey, Sherjin Rajendran Shanthimol, Udaivir Singh
Women’s epee: Ena Arora, Jyotika Dutta, Yashkeerat Kaur Hayer, Taniksha Khatri
Men’s foil: Arjun, Dev, Bibish Kathiresan, Akash Kumar
Women’s foil: Maria Akshita Ciril Rajdev, Jenisha Naser Raj Viji, Joys Ashitha Stalinraj, Kanagalakshmi Vinayakam Paranjothi
Where to watch Fencing World Championships 2023 live in India
The Fencing World Championships 2023 will be live-streamed on the FIE YouTube channel and official website.
Fencing World Championships 2023 full schedule and live India start times
All times are in IST
July 22, Saturday
Men’s sabre individual and women’s epee individual eliminators - 12:30 PM
July 23, Sunday
Men’s epee individual and women’s foil individual eliminators - 12:30 PM
July 24, Monday
Men’s foil individual and women’s sabre individual eliminators - 12:30 PM
July 25, Tuesday
Men’s sabre individual and women’s epee individual, Table of T64 – final - 12:00 PM
July 26, Wednesday
Men’s epee individual and women’s foil individual, Table of T64 – final - 12:00 PM
July 27, Thursday
Men’s foil and Women’s sabre individual Table of T64 – final - 1:30 PM
Men’s sabre – Women’s epee team, Table up to T8 eliminators - 1:30 PM
July 28, Friday
Men’s epee – Women’s foil team, Table up to T8 eliminators - 12:30 PM
Men’s sabre – Women’s epee team, DE of T8, semifinals and & finals - 1:30 PM
July 29, Saturday
Women’s sabre – men’s foil team up to T8 eliminators - 12:30 PM
Men’s epee – Women’s foil team DE of T8, semifinals and finals - 1:30 PM
July 30, Sunday
Men’s foil – Women’s sabre team DE of T8, semifinals and finals - 2:00 PM
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