Fencer Bhavani Devi wins French title

New Delhi, October 18

Fencer Bhavani Devi, who made history at the Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first Indian to compete in the sport at the Olympics, won the women’s individual sabre title at the Charlellville National Competition in France.

“Won the Charlellville National Competition, France in the Women’s Sabre individual,” the 28-year-old posted on social media after winning the title, adding: “Many thanks to coach Christian Bauer, Arnaud Schneider, and all teammates. Congratulations to all for a great start of the season.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Bhavani won her round of 64 match 15-3 against Tunisia’s Nadia Ben Azizi before going down to eventual bronze-medallist Manon Brunet of France in the round of 32.

She is currently ranked 50th in the world and is the top-ranked fencer from India.

She is eyeing a good show at the 2022 Asian Games and has started preparing for the event. — PTI

Badosa, Norrie claim biggest titles

Indian Wells (us): Cameron Norrie battled back to defeat Nikoloz Basilashvili 3-6 6-4 6-1 in the Indian Wells final on Sunday, becoming the first British man to win the Masters 1000 tournament. Britain’s Andy Murray, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski have all played in the men’s finals at Indian Wells but finished runner-up. Meanwhile, Paula Badosa survived a stiff challenge from Victoria Azarenka to produce a gutsy 7-6(5) 2-6 7-6(2) win in an epic women’s final. Azarenka was two points from winning the tournament for a third time and serving at 5-4 in the decider when her game began to unravel behind a series of uncharacteristic errors. Reuters