Fencer Bhavani Devi finishes 23rd in Istanbul World Cup, best show this year

fencer Bhavani Devi finished 23rd out of 166 participants in the women's individual sabre event of the FIE World Cup in Istanbul. Devi, the lone Indian in the competition, lost in the main Round of 32 against world number 23 Caroline Queroli of France 9-15 on Friday.

Queroli is a 2018 team world championship winner. Earlier, the 28-year-old world number 56, Devi won all her pool stage matches, beating all six opponents to finish on top.

She earned a direct entry into the main table of 64, where she beat Lin Kesi of China 15-8. This was Devi's best performance in the last three World Cups this year as she had not progressed beyond the main Round of 64 before the Istanbul event.

She recently won gold in the national championships in Amritsar. Devi had become the first Indian to compete in the Olympics during the Tokyo Games last year.

She had made an exit in the second round.