Bhavani Devi to get monetary support from Sports Ministry

Indian fencer Bhavani Devi's ambitions to participate in international competitions received a major boost on Friday when the Sports Ministry approved funding for her.

An amount of ₹8.16 lakh has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports via the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC) to facilitate her participation in four international competitions, including the International Fencing Federation (FIE) World Cup.

Bhavani Devi became the first-ever Indian fencer to compete at the Olympics earlier this year when she played at the Tokyo Games. She won her first round individual sabre match before going down in the Round of 32.

Bhavani Devi's future itinerary

Bhavani Devi will be taking part in a training camp in Tbilisi, Georgia, from January 4. The ace fencer will then compete at the FIE World Cup from January 14-16, scheduled to be held in Tbilisi.

Read: Bhavani Devi sets sights on Asian Games armed with learnings from Tokyo Olympics

The Indian fencer will then be participating at the World Cup in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, scheduled for January 28-29.

Bhavani Devi, ranked 55th in the world in the individual women’s sabre category, will compete at the FIE World Cups in Greece and Belgium to be held from March 4-5 and March 18-19, respectively.

Earlier this year, the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports approved an ACTC amount of ₹3 crore to the Fencing Association of India (FAI) for the financial year 2021-22.

As per the ACTC mechanism, the Government of India releases grants to all the recognized National Sports Federations (NSFs) every financial year, after going through their long-term projections, list of national and international competitions/camps and athlete training programs.