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None of the Indian fencers have been able to qualify for the Paris Olympics through the ranking quota. The fencers will now have to compete at the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Fujairah, UAE to book a spot in the big ticket event. The event is set to take place from April 27 to April 28.
According to the guidelines, only one fencer per national federation, who does not have any athletes qualified through team rankings or the Senior Adjusted Official Ranking (AOR) will be eligible to participate in the competition. AOR is the points earned by an athlete in individual competitions between April 3, 2023, and April 1, 2024.
The Fencing Association of India (FAI) is expected to send the national champion (Gold medalist) of the recent senior national championship.
It is evident that Bhavani Devi (women's sabre) was the first-ever fencer to qualify for the Olympics through AOR in the last edition of the Games. However, other athletes could not qualify through the rankings, and failed to get past the quarter-final stage of the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan as well.
Although there had been rumors that Bhavani Devi had qualified for the Paris Olympics, India TV confirmed that all the claims were inaccurate and there were no official announcements for validation.
212 fencers to compete in Paris Olympics
A total of 212 athletes, including 102 men and 102 women, plus six host country quotas (three per gender) and two Universality Places (one per gender) will compete at the Paris Olympics.
In this edition, France is the host country, and can distribute six spots between the team and individual events. This quota excludes fencers qualified through the pathways.
Until now, 180 athletes have qualified for the different fencing events set to take place at the event.
The Zonal Qualifying tournament will take place in America (April 5-7), Europe (April 26-28), Africa (April 27), and Asia & Oceania (April 27-28). The last date for the Sport Entry deadline is July 8.
The fencing competition at the Paris Olympics will take place from July 27 to August 4 at the Paris Grand Palais.
