Fencing

Overview

Origin

Renaissance Europe

Category

Combat

Olympic discipline

Yes

Paralympic discipline

No

Central pathway

Olympic (TOPS eligible)

Athlete profiles on SportSupport

3

Governance and status

Each field below is shown only where we hold a source for it; anything else reads “Not currently verified” rather than a guess. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition is granted year by year, so it is only ever shown with the year it applies to. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Indian governing/organising body

Fencing Association of India

Ministry recognition

Fencing Association of India — Annual recognition renewed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — as at 2026Source: Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — List of recognised National Sports Federations

International federation

Not currently verified

Khelo India inclusion

On the official Khelo India Games discipline list as "Fencing"Source: Sports Authority of India / Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — Discipline wise Participation in all editions of Khelo India Games (19th Edition) (2026-08-29)

TOPS eligibility

In scope — TOPS covers Olympic medal prospects

Olympic status

On the Olympic programme

Paralympic status

Not a Paralympic discipline

Scholarships & Funding

Central, state and private scholarships available for fencing athletes in India.

• Khelo India Talent Identification & Development (KITID)

  Monthly stipend (₹10,000 for selected Khelo India athletes), boarding, coaching and kit at accredited centres for talent identified through the Khelo India selection process (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports). Applies only to disciplines on the official Khelo India Games list, and only to athletes it selects.

• Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)

  Central government scheme covering training, foreign exposure, equipment and an out-of-pocket allowance (up to ₹50,000/month) for athletes inducted by the Mission Olympic Cell. TOPS covers a Core Group and a Development Group of disciplines rather than every Olympic sport, and induction is decided athlete by athlete; we hold no current list confirming whether fencing is among the covered disciplines.

• National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)

  Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports fund used to sponsor elite athletes' training, foreign coaches and equipment. Allocations are made case by case; we hold no record of NSDF support specific to fencing.

• Pension for Meritorious Sportspersons

  Lifetime monthly pension (₹20,000 for Olympic/World/Asian/CWG medallists; scaled by tier) for retired internationals who meet the scheme's medal criteria — Government of India.

• C A Bhavani DeviTamil Nadu

  Chadalavada Anandha Bhavani Devi (born 27 August 1993) is an Indian sabre fencer. She became the first Indian fencer to qualify for Olympics at the 2020 Olympic Games. She is also a double gold medalist at the Commonwealth Championships.

• Ruchi TrikhaIndia

  Ruchi Trikha (born 1 March 1986) is an Indian epée fencing player. In July 2017, she was noted as the top women fencer in the Punjab region of India. Trikha competed at the Asian Games 2006.

• Taniksha KhatriIndia

  Taniksha Khatri (23 September 2003) is an Indian fencer specializing in the épée category. She's a silver medalist at the Commonwealth Junior Championships and the Asian Junior Championships.

Rules

Bouts are fenced on a 14m x 1.5m piste in three weapons. In foil and épée, touches are scored with the point only (foil: torso target; épée: whole body); sabre allows point and edge cuts to everything above the waist except the hands. Foil and sabre use right-of-way (priority) to decide who scores when both fencers land; épée awards a double touch. Pool bouts run to 5 touches in 3 minutes, direct-elimination bouts to 15 touches over three 3-minute periods, with hits registered electrically through a body wire and scoring box.

Authoritative rulebook: Fencing Association of India. Age-group and school-level variations are published by SGFI and the state associations each season.

Positions

Typical roles across combat sports. These are category-level descriptions, not a sourced fencing squad list.

• Fighter / competitor
  Contests bouts inside the ring, mat or cage in a set weight category.
• Corner / second
  Coach in the corner during the bout — allowed to instruct between rounds.
• Referee & judges
  Officiate the bout, score rounds and enforce safety rules.
• Cutman / medical
  Manages cuts, swelling and immediate medical needs between rounds.

Equipment

Standard kit and infrastructure required to train and compete in fencing at a federation-recognised event.

• Weapon: foil, épée or sabre (electric, with body wire)
• FIE-rated mask (conductive bib/lamé overlay for sabre), plastron and jacket
• Breeches, long socks, chest protector and glove
• Conductive lamé for foil and sabre
• Metallic piste, reels and electronic scoring apparatus

Governing/organising body

Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in fencing.

• Senior National Fencing Championship

  Organized by the Fencing Association of India (FAI, established 1974, recognized by the Indian government only in 1997 — a 23-year gap) across Foil, Épée and Sabre disciplines for men and women, held annually since 1986. Separate Junior (since 1992), Cadet (since 2004) and Sub-Junior (since 1999) national championships also run. FAI has 30 state associations and 2 services associations, headquartered in Patiala.

International Events

Continental and world-level competitions we hold a source for in fencing.

• Asian Fencing Championships

  India won its first-ever medal at this event in 2023 — a bronze through C.A. Bhavani Devi, who beat reigning world champion Misaki Emura en route. India is hosting the 26th edition in New Delhi in June 2026, a direct Asian Games 2026 qualifier.

• Commonwealth Fencing Championships

  Bhavani Devi has won two golds.

• Olympic Games

  Bhavani Devi became India's first-ever Olympic fencer at Tokyo 2020, competing in individual sabre.

Leagues

No dedicated professional league is currently catalogued for fencing. The national championship under Fencing Association of India remains the top domestic competition.

International Players

Globally recognised fencing athletes to know outside India.

The international federation for fencing maintains the current world ranking — check the federation site for the up-to-date top names.

Career Options

Ways to build a career in fencing — on the field, on the sidelines and behind the scenes.

• Fencing remains a genuinely developing sport in India — training facilities have historically been limited, concentrated around a handful of centres including the SAI campus in Thalassery, Kerala, where Bhavani Devi trained from age 15
• Athletes and families have often had to self-fund international travel and equipment in the sport's early stages — Bhavani Devi made her first international trip in 2007, and missed that competition after a late arrival led to disqualification before she even fenced
• Playing pathway through FAI's age-group national championships (sub-junior through senior)
• Coaching certification through FAI, which has run a formal strategic plan since 2017 to develop more domestic coaches and reduce reliance on foreign expertise

• Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, PatialaElite
  Patiala, Punjab · Since 1961

  Asia's largest sports institute and SAI's flagship coach-education and training campus.

• SAI North-East Regional Centre, ImphalNational
  Imphal, Manipur · Since 1985

  Northeast's premier residential centre, running nine NCOE disciplines from archery and cycling to wushu and weightlifting.

• SAI Lakshmibai National College of PE, ThiruvananthapuramNational
  Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala · Since 1965

  Sport-science college and NCOE centre for southern India across athletics, cycling, fencing, taekwondo and volleyball.

• J&K Sports Council Water Sports Academy, Srinagar and M.A. Stadium Fencing Academy, JammuNational
  Srinagar and Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir

  Jammu & Kashmir's Khelo India State Centre of Excellence: rowing at Srinagar's water sports academy and fencing at M.A. Stadium, Jammu.

• Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, ChennaiNational
  Chennai, Tamil Nadu

  Tamil Nadu's Khelo India State Centre of Excellence at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai — one of the largest KISCEs by trainee numbers.

• Regional Sports School, HakimpetNational
  Hakimpet, Telangana

  Telangana's Khelo India State Centre of Excellence at Hakimpet, and the second-largest KISCE by trainee numbers.

• SAI National Centre of Excellence, ThiruvananthapuramNational
  Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

  SAI's six-discipline National Centre of Excellence in Thiruvananthapuram.

• SAI National Centre of Excellence, AurangabadNational
  Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad), Maharashtra

  SAI's National Centre of Excellence in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, running boxing, fencing, gymnastics, hockey and weightlifting.

• SAI National Centre of Excellence, GuwahatiNational
  Guwahati, Assam

  SAI's Guwahati centre — a seven-discipline National Centre of Excellence and the regional centre campus for the North East.

• Vijayi Bharat Sports Academy, Ahmedabad, GujaratState
  Ahmedabad, Gujarat

  Khelo India accredited academy in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Accredited disciplines as published: Fencing, Judo, Shooting.

• Eklavya Sports School, Hisar, HaryanaState
  Hisar, Haryana

  Khelo India accredited academy in Hisar, Haryana. Accredited disciplines as published: Fencing.

• Guru Nanak Dev University, Grand Trunk RoadState
  Amritsar, Punjab

  Khelo India accredited academy in Amritsar, Punjab. Accredited disciplines as published: Archery, Fencing.

Central and state schemes that fund training, stipends and awards for fencing athletes and academies.

• Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, through the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and its Mission Olympic Cell (MOC)
  Target Asian Games Group (TAGG): Individual Support for Asian Games 2026 Medal Prospects (SAI)

  SAI's TAGG division was disbanded in May 2026; the programme was built for the 2026 Asian Games. The Target Asian Games Group (TAGG) was a Sports Authority of India high-performance programme, modelled on the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), that gave individualised support to medal prospects for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. It was launched in 2025 with 37 athletes in 16 disciplines, 10 Olympic and 6 non-Olympic, and the Mission Olympic Cell added athletes later, for example in tennis, taekwondo, karate, gymnastics and soft tennis. TAGG did not replace TOPS; it focused on sports where India has regional potential but has yet to convert it into Olympic success. On 19 May 2026 SAI's Director General re-arranged its divisions and disbanded the TAGG division; its work was redistributed between the TOPS division, which now manages 27 disciplines and the participation coordination for the Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games, and the Training of Elite Athletes and Management Support (TEAMS) division, which handles para, winter and non-Olympic disciplines. The Asian Games 2026 were held in September and October 2026. Check with SAI whether TAGG-style support continues.

• Government of Maharashtra (Sports and Youth Services)
  Maharashtra 5% Reservation for Meritorious Sportspersons (revised policy, 2026)

  On 8 September 2026 the Maharashtra Cabinet approved a revised policy for the 5 per cent parallel reservation for meritorious sportspersons in direct recruitment in state government and semi-government bodies. Sports included in at least three consecutive Summer Olympic Games after 2005 qualify, and Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Chess, Mallakhamb and Cricket have been added as regional sports. Under the revised policy, sports certificates must be verified through a digital Sports E-Certificate system within three months, and earlier government resolutions on the quota were rescinded.

• Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
  Recruitment of Meritorious Sportspersons to Group C Posts in the Central Government (DoPT Sports Quota)

  Under instructions of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), central government ministries and departments can directly recruit meritorious sportspersons to Group C posts (including erstwhile Group D) that are filled by direct recruitment, in relaxation of the normal recruitment procedure. The list of qualifying sports has 65 disciplines (63 listed in 2020, with Tennis Ball Cricket added in January 2021 and Yogasana in June 2022). Kudo, Karate, Taekwondo, Golf, Judo, Boxing, Wrestling, Badminton, Cricket and Tennis are among them. Railways and a few scientific and atomic-energy services follow separate rules.

FAQs

Common questions about fencing in India.

Fencing in every state & UT

Dedicated pages for Fencing in each Indian state and Union Territory — academies, schemes, athletes and how to start.

• Fencing in Andhra Pradesh
• Fencing in Arunachal Pradesh
• Fencing in Assam
• Fencing in Bihar
• Fencing in Chhattisgarh
• Fencing in Goa
• Fencing in Gujarat
• Fencing in Haryana
• Fencing in Himachal Pradesh
• Fencing in Jharkhand
• Fencing in Karnataka
• Fencing in Kerala
• Fencing in Madhya Pradesh
• Fencing in Maharashtra
• Fencing in Manipur
• Fencing in Meghalaya
• Fencing in Mizoram
• Fencing in Nagaland
• Fencing in Odisha
• Fencing in Punjab
• Fencing in Rajasthan
• Fencing in Sikkim
• Fencing in Tamil Nadu
• Fencing in Telangana
• Fencing in Tripura
• Fencing in Uttar Pradesh
• Fencing in Uttarakhand
• Fencing in West Bengal
• Fencing in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
• Fencing in Chandigarh
• Fencing in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
• Fencing in Delhi
• Fencing in Jammu & Kashmir
• Fencing in Ladakh
• Fencing in Lakshadweep
• Fencing in Puducherry