Olympian fencer Bhavani Devi receives Rs 8.16 lakh to compete in four FIE World Cups

Indian fencer Bhavani Devi receives an amount of Rs 8.16 lakhs to participate in four international fencing events.

India's first-ever Olympian fencer Bhavani Devi is set to take part in four international competitions in the next calendar year after the Sports Ministry sanctioned an amount of Rs 8.16 lakh to facilitate her participation in the events.

According to a ministry statement, the amount was sanctioned via the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC) scheme.

Bhavani, who won her first-round individual sabre event before going down in the Round of 32 at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year, will be taking part at a training camp in Tbilisi, Georgia from January 4, before competing at the International Fencing Federation (FIE) World Cup in the same city from January 14 to 16. She will then be competing at the World Cup in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, scheduled from January 28 to 29.

Bhavani, currently ranked 55 in the world in the individual women's sabre category, will also participate at the following FIE World Cups in Greece and Belgium from March 4 to 5 and March 18 to 19, respectively.

The Sports Ministry, earlier this year, had approved an ACTC amount of Rs 3 crore to the Fencing Association of India (FAI) for the financial year 2021-22, until March 2022