India Fencing squad for Asian Games 2023: Squad, team news, Indian performance before Hangzhou 2022

With India looking to surpass its medal tally of 70 at the last edition of the Games, Fencing may just be the dark horse to secure spots in the podium for the Tricolour.

There will be a lot of expectations in Fencing from Bhavani Devi, the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympic Games (in 2020) and the first-ever medallist from India at the Asian Fencing Championship. | Photo Credit: V.V. Krishnan/The Hindu

Fencing has been in Asian Games since 1974, with the only exception being the 1982 edition of the tournament. China is the most successful country with 47 gold medals, followed by South Korea (46 gold medals) and Japan (13 gold medals).

India’s maiden campaign in the discipline at the Asiad, however, started very late, in 2006. It has not won a Fencing medal in the Games yet.

But this time, there will be a lot of expectations from Bhavani Devi, the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympic Games (in 2020) and the first-ever medallist from India at the Asian Fencing Championship, winning the bronze medal in 2023.

The Indian Women’s Epee team also finished in the top five in the senior Asian Championships.

With India looking to surpass its medal tally of 70 at the last edition of the Games, Fencing may just be the dark horse to secure spots in the podium for the Tricolour.

Indian fencing squad:

Men

Individual épée: Sunil Kumar, Shankar Pandey

Team épée: Sunil Kumar, Shankar Pandey, Udayvir Singh, Sherjin R. S.

Individual foil: Arjun, Dev

Team foil: Arjun, Dev, Bibish Kathireshan, Akash Kumar

Individual Sabre: Karan Singh Gurjar, Gisho Kumaresan

Team Sabre: Karan Singh Gurjar, Gisho Kumaresan, Vishal Thapar, Abhay Shinde

Women

Individual épee: Taniksha Khatri, Ena Arora

Team épee: Taniksha Khatri, Ena Arora, Yashkeerat Kaur, Jyotika Dutta

Individual foil: Radhika Awati, Mariya Akshita

Team foil: Radhika Awati, Mariya Awati, V. P. Mahalakshmi, Jenisha . V.

Individual sabre: C. A. Bhavani Devi, Jagmeet Kaur

Team sabre: C. A. Bhavani Devi, Jagmeet Kaur, Rishika Khujuria, Joshna Christy Jose