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Gearing up for her maiden appearance at the Games this summer, sabre fencer Bhavani Devi is preparing to bring out her best at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 27-year-old reached a new milestone in her career by becoming the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics. She sealed her quota place through the Adjusted Official Ranking (AOR) method at the Budapest World Cup in March.
Bhavani now hopes to find extra gear when the entire country watches her perform at the Tokyo Olympics.
“It will be the first time when most of our country will watch Fencing and will watch me play, so will give my best performance in front of them,” Bhavani said at a virtual media interaction held by the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
Bhavani to continue training in Italy until Tokyo Olympics
With anxiety mounting over the staging of the Tokyo Olympics, Bhavani is embracing the prolonged preparation time as an opportunity to hone her skills and fitness levels.
She further stated that her preparation is on track and there is nothing to change at this stage, also adding that she is looking forward to competing in her first Olympics.
The eight-time national champion aims to fine-tune her preparations with training sessions in Italy over the next couple of months before heading to Tokyo. She has been attending a three-week training camp alongside Italy's national team.
'Overcame difficulties only because of my parents'
Crediting her parents for much of her success, Bhavani said they have always been there to push her along the way.
She recalled how gender stereotypes once discouraged her from sports and she told her parents she wanted to quit.
“When my ranking wasn’t close to the qualification, people used to ask why is she investing so much time in sport. She’s a woman, she could get education and think of getting some job. I didn’t get encouragement from outside, my mother and father told me to not worry," Bhavani reflected.
“Only because of my parents, I was able to push myself harder to overcome difficulties. My mother always encouraged me. She would tell me ‘If today is not good, tomorrow will be better. If you give 100 percent, you will definitely get the result.’ Even from her hospital bed when she was recovering from Covid-19, she told me focus on my dream and play in the Budapest World Cup rather that return home to be with her."
