Fencing

Facts for Prelims

Fencing

News: CA Bhavani Devi, an Indian fencer, made history by winning India’s first-ever medal at the Asian fencing championships held in Wuxi, China. She secured a bronze medal in the women’s sabre event.

What is Fencing?
• Fencing is a sport that involves two opponents dueling with swords, trying to touch each other’s target area to score points. There are three types of swords used in fencing: foil, epee, and sabre. Each sword has different rules for scoring and target area.

What are the rules followed in Sabre? (Try to know basics if possible)
• The sabre is a cutting and thrusting weapon that can score with both the tip and the edge of the blade.
• The target area is everything above the waist, excluding the hands.

What are other rules?
• A fencing bout consists of three periods of three minutes each, with a one-minute break between periods.
• The first fencer to score 15 points wins the bout. If neither fencer reaches 15 points by the end of the third period, the fencer with more points wins.
• If both fencers have equal points at the end of regulation time, a sudden death period of one minute is played, with one fencer having priority by a coin toss. The fencer who scores first in this period wins.