My Goal is Asian Games Medal: Young Fencer Abhay Shinde

We got a chance to speak to young and promising Abhay Shinde.

Here is what he had to say

ISH: How did you take up fencing? 

Abhay: I am form a sporting family with my father being a Physical Education teacher. My father wanted me to join Volleyball in the beginning but my fathers close friend asked me to take up Fencing. I did not take up the sport seriously for a year or so but then after winning few medals took it up seriously.

ISH: There are three categories in fencing sabre, epee, and foil. Any particular reasons in choosing sabre?

Abhay: Speed of play in Sabre is more as compared to Foil and Epee. But I play Foil and Epee during recreation occasionally.

ISH: Tell us about your training regime?

Abhay: I start my training at 4am warming up with fitness and footwork training. After a break then we move into training with partners getting to work out few techniques. During Fridays we have competition bouts and on Saturday running. In a week I practise for 6 ways with Sundays off.

ISH: Before any match do you study the opponents game play and plan accordingly or go with the flow?

Abhay:Yes. A day before the competition if the fixtures are announced then I try to study the opponents game about his techniques.

ISH: Where do you think India lags behind among other countries?

Abhay:Technique wise India is on par with the World best Fencing countries. The difference is that they conduct many tournaments every year. The domestic matches there are in the level of International level. They play plenty of matches and get good exposure and game time. On the other hand we hardly play few domestic tournament like the Senior Nationals. Now there are Khelo India National level matches coming up as well which is a good initiative.

ISH: Since Fencing is famous in Europe especially Italy how is their gameplay and technique compared to the Asians and us?

Abhay: Asians are physically strong who attack faster on the other hand Europeans are technically stronger who play slow but attack with precision.

ISH: India (mens sabre) now has 2 Indians inside top 100 and 2 inside top 200 including yourself at 156 in senior and 42nd in Juniors. Any particular reason for this positive trend and good depth?

Abhay:Rajiv Mehta sir motivated us in playing more number of tournaments on getting good exposure. This year I have played the maximum number of competitions compared to other season. We get ranking points for every tournament we compete which increases our rankings ultimately which is the same for other Fencers as well.

ISH: Have heard many Fencers start their taining initially with bamboo sticks. Did you also do that?

Abhay: No. My district association had provided me good support. An international standard Fencing equipment costs around 1.5-2L. Before joining SAI I had to bear the expenses. But since joining SAI they provide me with all the equipments required. Also I have seperate fencing stick for competion and training so that they dont get spoilt.

ISH:Where do you train?

Abhay:I train at SAI Aurangabad. I am also a part of the TOPS scheme. So after the National Games are over probably I might go abroad and train there along with foreign fencers.

ISH: Your favourite Fencer?

Abhay: My favourite Fencer is Aron Szilagyi from Hungary. He is an 3 time Olympic gold medalist and also the recently held World Championships in Egypt. He gave me few tips about how to go about in tournaments.

ISH: What will be your most memorable match till now?

Abhay: I beat much experienced Gisho Nidhi in the SF of the Senior Nationals held at Amritsar. The scores were tied 14 all and I won a point from there to make it to the finals which was one of my most memorable one.

ISH:How do see your progression for the past few years?

Abhay: I have progressed quite well for past 3 years. I finished around 140th rank and didnt qualify for the preliminary rounds as well at the 2019 World Championships. This year I finished 87th. Also I feel technique wise as well apart the results there has been great improvement.

ISH:How is your rapport with other senior Sabre fencers?

Abhay: I often keep in touch with Karan Singh who now is training in France. During competitons as well all of them support me by giving valuable suggestions.

ISH:How has Bhavani Devi’s qualification to Tokyo Olympics inspired you?

Abhay: She has inspired me a lot. Before when I used to go out with my equipments for training people used to see me awkwardly. I had to explain them in detail what Fencing as a sport is all about. But now the people have slowly started understanding the sport and the sport has started gaining popularity among general audience.

ISH: Tell us about your future goals?

Abhay: My next goal will be to win a medal the Asian Games next year. Also will like to get to top 60 in the world rankings as soon as possible by next season.

ISH: Could you brief us on how the tournament format is set up?

Abhay: The fencers are split into different group which consists of 6 athletes who play among each other. According to the number of Fencers participating 30 percent of the athletes get eliminated. The number change according to partipation numbsrs. The remaing left out fencers play the preliminary round of 128 and preliminary round of 64. Those who qualify here will get into the main table of 64. The top 16 seed fencers directly qualify for the main round of 64 through their rankings.