Fencer Bhavani Devi loses in Cairo World Championships

India's first Olympian fencer Bhavani Devi bowed out of the World Championships after losing in the second round of senior women's individual sabre event at Cairo Wednesday. Bhavani gave a tough fight to her German opponent Larissa Eifler, seeded 8th, before going down 12-15 in the round of 32.

The 28-year-old from Chennai made history at the Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first Indian to compete in the sport at the Games. Bhavani, currently ranked 39th in the world, had recovered from 4-11 to beat Gabriella Page of Canada 15-14 in her opening round match.

At the Tokyo Olympics, she 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.

Bhavani, who has won three Asian medals, had claimed the Charlellville National Competition in France in October last year. She had also finished 23rd out of 166 participants in the women's individual sabre event of the FIE World Cup in Istanbul in March this year.