Bhopal: From the slums of Banganga to the international piste in Russia, a daughter of Madhya Pradesh has travelled far following her dreams.
An 19-year-old fencer, Khushi Dabhade, is all set to represent the nation at the Fencing World Cup between March 19 and 23.
Khushi has been selected by the Fencing Association of India for the World Cup for Epee event.
Both her parents, Babarao Dabhade and Vidhya Dabhade, work at two private NGOs as an operation theatre attendant and nurse, respectively.
She is pursuing Bachelor’s in Physical Education from Jawaharlal Nehru College.
Khushi told Free Press she met one of her cousins who told her about fencing five years ago. It immediately caught her interest, she said.
Residing just beside the Tantia Tope stadium, she found herself at the academy in no time.
She said it was difficult to shift interest towards sporting with a family to take care of.
But her family always supported her no matter what, she said. Her height and physique assisted her in pursuing her dreams, she added.
Khushi said Epee has a v- shaped blade and also a thrusting weapon like Foil with a maximum weight of 770 grams.
She said there was no “right of way” rule to decide score in case of simultaneous hits by both fencers in the event.
Both fencers are allowed scores, but in case of a tie up at the end of a match, all the double touches scored, are considered null or void, she added.
Her coach, Bhupendra Singh, said she was a very talented player and will make a mark for herself and the nation.
The minister of sports Yashodhara Raje Scindia has congratulated Khushi and wished her luck.
The director of sports, Pawan Kumar Jain, said the academy was providing international standards facilities to train such talented players who will one day make the nation proud.
