KOCHI: On a regular evening at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi, two women in off-white cover-alls and black mesh masks, kept charging at each other with their sabres on a long metallic rink.
As the swords clung and rattled, they demonstrated a series of smart manouevres and some sound footwork.
Fundamentally, they are duelling. But instead of drawing blood, their slashes and stabs claim points, which are likely to add a few medals to the Kerala tally at the 35th National Games set to begin by the end of this month.
Though orginated from the medieval European swordfighting, fencing can draw a lot of parallels with Kerala. With its roots steeped in the traditional martial art of Kalaripayattu, Kerala, perhaps, holds the biggest advantage in this combat sport than any other state in India.
But apparantly, only the women in Kerala are living up to that reputation. In the 34th National Games in Jharkhand, the state women’s team won five medals — a gold, a silver and a bronze in the sabre, foil and epee categories of fencing, besides a gold and silver in the individual sabre event.
“We are aiming to bag six or seven medals this time,” said coach Sagar Lagu, who has been working with the national fencing team for the past five years.
Currently undergoing the second phase of the National Games training at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, the 24-member team’s medal hopes are mostly hinged to the four-member women’s sabre sqaud.
Winners of the gold medal last time, the sabre team’s biggest highlight is India-international C A Bhavani Devi, who is currently camping in Italy to train for the World Championship to be hosted in Germany on January 31 and February 1.
She will join the Kerala camp on February 2, during the final phase to be held at the CIAL Trade Centre in Nedumbassery, where the fencing event in the Games commences on February 9.
With the rest of the 12-member women’s team having international exposure as well, Sagar is sure of at least two other medals in the team events — in the women’s foil and epee weapons.
And in the individual competition, Bhavani further makes a strong pitch for gold with her sabre. In the epee event, 2010 Asian Games participant Dilna VP and 2012 South Asian Champion Stefitha Chalil are the major medal contenders.
Currently a coach at the Sports Authority of the India centre in Thalassery, Sagar is counting on the experience of 36-year-old Karnataka-born, Alappuzha-settled Sasidhar Singh to help the men’s foil team win a medal.
“He has been fencing since the age of eight. That is going to give us some leverage,” Sagar said. Besides Sasidhar, the team features 2013 Asian junior cadet championship fencer Akshay S in the sabre event this time along with young turks Albert Anto and Bibish K.