Indian fencer Bhavani Devi lost to France's Manon Brunet in the second round of the women's individual saber event at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, ending her maiden Olympic campaign. The 29th seeded Indian lost 15-7 to fourth seed Brunet, who was a semi-finalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Leading 1-1, Brunet began to assert himself in the first period, using his sharp hands and light feet to jump to a 5-1 lead in defense and attack. The 27-year-old Bhavani, the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics, took a 5-2 lead before Brunet went on another run, this time with three straight points, after the first period ended 8-2.
The Brunet continued in the same sequence in the second period, winning three more points before Bhavani scored six straight points for four consecutive points, closing the deficit 11-2 to 11-6.
However, the Brunet kept up the pressure, winning four of the next five points to reach the 15-point mark needed for victory.
Earlier on Monday, Bhavani made a confident start in her first bout at the Olympics and beat Tunisia's Nadia Ben Azizi 15-3 to advance in the competition against Brunet.
Bhavani, who hails from Chennai, was aggressive from the start and took advantage of Azizi's open stance, which helped her score points early. Bhavani did not concede a single point in the first three minutes and took an 8-0 lead.
In the second period Bhavani extended her lead to 9–0, before Nadia finally came on the 9–1 scoreboard. The Tunisian made a few touches in the second period but the Indian used his pace and held on to win the contest in six minutes and 14 seconds.
In the saber event, the target area covers everything above the waist, including the head and arms, but not the hands. In the AP discipline, the target area is the entire body, including the head and limbs, while in foil, the target areas include the torso (defined from the shoulders to the waist) and the back of the opponent's waist. The target areas in the foil are the hands, feet, head and neck.
The other major difference between saber and foil and AP weapons is that in saber, the weapon can be hit with the edge and not just the tip.