Tokyo 2020: India's fencer Bhavani Devi goes down fighting

Bengaluru, July 26: Indian fencer Bhavani Devi, who was making her Olympics debut at Tokyo 2020, put up a good fight before going down to world No.3 and Rio Games semifinalist Manon Brunet in the second round.

Bhavani, who was competing in the women's individual sabre event, began her campaign with a resounding 15-3 win against Tunisia's Nadia Ben Azizi.

However, the 27-year-old, who created history by becoming the first Indian women fencer to compete at Olympics, found it tough against France's Brunet in the next round, which she lost 7-15.

History, domination, class - What dream debuts are made of for Bhavani Devi 🤺😍#Tokyo2020 | #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion | @IamBhavaniDevi pic.twitter.com/nkz96Spv1m

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) July 26, 2021

The Tamil Nadu fencer's aggression yielded points against Azizi, but Brunet proved a tough nut to crack as she used all her experience to negate Bhavani's tactics as she lost two points for going out of the arena, reports PTI news agency.

Bhavani could score only one point each in the first two periods, but came back well in the third. Brunet was sharp and had better technique as she scored points from distance.

After trailing 2-8 going into the third and final round, Bhavani needed nothing short of a spectacular show in the final one, but Brunet largely remained untroubled in the 9min and 48sec match.

In the opening round though, the Chennai girl was a better fencer, taking advantage of Azizi's open stance that allowed her score points quickly. Bhavani did not concede a single point in the first three-minute period and raced to a commanding 8-0 lead against the Tunisian.

Nadia managed some touches in the second period but the Indian kept building her lead to win the contest in 6min and 14sec. The fencer who touches the 15 point-mark first, is declared winner.