Bhavani Devi registered an impressive series of five wins in the morning to enter the knockout stages of the women’s sabre individual fencing event before bowing out to local favourite Yaqi Shao 15-7 in the quarterfinals. The Chinese, who has also been a training partner for Bhavani, won 15-7, racing to a 7-2 lead in the first period even before Bhavani could find her footing. She questioned some of the early decisions from the referee, even challenging them early on.
“The one thing I have learnt is that I need to work on my speed and distance with different opponents, but admitted that she let the decisions affect her concentration, something she would work on in the coming competitions,” Bhavani said.
