NEW DELHI: First Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics, Bhavani Devi seeks to test its new techniques and strategies during the National Games and use them at major upcoming events.
The 29-year-old Commonwealth Gold Medal winner Fencing Last month’s championship will be one of the attractions of the multi-sport event in Gujarat.
“I changed coach, technique, strategies, everything has changed now. We have bigger events, like the Olympic qualification in April. So I have to work on my strategies. I have to apply them to all my opponents, beginners and experienced and see how it works,” she said during a virtual interaction led by SAI.
“Saber is a very fast sport, you can’t take time between touches, you can’t think and decide what you want to do in those milliseconds.
“So it’s always a risk to try new techniques at the National Games because it’s like a show, everyone is going to watch. So I need to perform well but at the same time I need to do my work (new techniques) which can help me in the biggest tournaments.”
Born in Chennai, Bhavani has split from Italian coach Nicola Zanotti and is currently being coached by legendary French fencer Christian Bauer.
Bhavani said Indian fencers will need more international exposure to compete with the best in the business world.
“Right now fencing is in the development phase, we certainly have a long way to go to reach a stage where we will be able to put up a tough fight against the best fencers in the world,” she said.
“We are starting more national competitions so that players can compete with fencers who have participated in some international competitions. So they can understand their level and players who have participated in international competitions can also understand and improve much better. .
“We are developing, we are progressing in the right direction. We just need more time. We get medals in some competitions, but to reach the podium in the biggest competitions, we need more visibility.”
Bhavani said coaches also need more exposure to improve their technical aspects.
“Coaches also need to go to more international competitions, to understand what levels other athletes are playing at, what levels we are at. What kinds of technical aspects do we need to work on.
“We need to understand what strategies work for Indian athletes. So we need to understand that we need more competition and we need to have more international exposure.
“In France, they have hundreds of Olympic and world championship medalists. So to reach that kind of level, we need more competitions.”
The 42nd-ranked Indian fencer finished 23rd at the World Cup in Istanbul. She reached the second round of the World Championships in July before retaining her title at the Commonwealth Championships in August.
Bhavani said there wasn’t much support during her junior years, so she trains more time abroad to compensate for that.
“Before, we didn’t have enough support. We didn’t go to many competitions, maybe one or two a year. So earlier, I lacked experience,” said Bhavani, who trained in Europe.
“For example, in my junior level, I never competed in world junior level competitions. When I was in cadet like under-17, I had the chance to compete at junior level but apart that, I have never participated in any competition at the junior level.
“So that experience that I lacked has affected me sometimes at senior level too…so to bring that experience back I have to train regularly abroad with other international players, so in the long term I can improve myself.”
The 29-year-old Commonwealth Gold Medal winner Fencing Last month’s championship will be one of the attractions of the multi-sport event in Gujarat.
“I changed coach, technique, strategies, everything has changed now. We have bigger events, like the Olympic qualification in April. So I have to work on my strategies. I have to apply them to all my opponents, beginners and experienced and see how it works,” she said during a virtual interaction led by SAI.
“Saber is a very fast sport, you can’t take time between touches, you can’t think and decide what you want to do in those milliseconds.
“So it’s always a risk to try new techniques at the National Games because it’s like a show, everyone is going to watch. So I need to perform well but at the same time I need to do my work (new techniques) which can help me in the biggest tournaments.”
Born in Chennai, Bhavani has split from Italian coach Nicola Zanotti and is currently being coached by legendary French fencer Christian Bauer.
Bhavani said Indian fencers will need more international exposure to compete with the best in the business world.
“Right now fencing is in the development phase, we certainly have a long way to go to reach a stage where we will be able to put up a tough fight against the best fencers in the world,” she said.
“We are starting more national competitions so that players can compete with fencers who have participated in some international competitions. So they can understand their level and players who have participated in international competitions can also understand and improve much better. .
“We are developing, we are progressing in the right direction. We just need more time. We get medals in some competitions, but to reach the podium in the biggest competitions, we need more visibility.”
Bhavani said coaches also need more exposure to improve their technical aspects.
“Coaches also need to go to more international competitions, to understand what levels other athletes are playing at, what levels we are at. What kinds of technical aspects do we need to work on.
“We need to understand what strategies work for Indian athletes. So we need to understand that we need more competition and we need to have more international exposure.
“In France, they have hundreds of Olympic and world championship medalists. So to reach that kind of level, we need more competitions.”
The 42nd-ranked Indian fencer finished 23rd at the World Cup in Istanbul. She reached the second round of the World Championships in July before retaining her title at the Commonwealth Championships in August.
Bhavani said there wasn’t much support during her junior years, so she trains more time abroad to compensate for that.
“Before, we didn’t have enough support. We didn’t go to many competitions, maybe one or two a year. So earlier, I lacked experience,” said Bhavani, who trained in Europe.
“For example, in my junior level, I never competed in world junior level competitions. When I was in cadet like under-17, I had the chance to compete at junior level but apart that, I have never participated in any competition at the junior level.
“So that experience that I lacked has affected me sometimes at senior level too…so to bring that experience back I have to train regularly abroad with other international players, so in the long term I can improve myself.”