CHADALAVADA ANANDHA SUNDH Bhavani .

General
CHOOSING SABRE
She says she focused on the sabre discipline because she enjoys the speed of competition. "When I was explained the sport at first, I was told sabre was the fastest among the three disciplines of fencing. It's a discipline where we move fast and hit the opponents first, or if the opponent attacks first you have to defend quickly. I actually started doing epee because at my first competition in school, they already had enough players in the other disciplines. I lost. After that I started to take an interest in foil and sabre. The second fastest discipline is the foil, so I chose both foil and sabre in the beginning. I still love competing in foil, but after competing in the discipline for four-and-a-half years, India's fencing federation made a rule that one fencer can only compete in one event. So I chose sabre, which I always wanted to do." (firstpost.com, 24 Aug 2020)

TIME ABROAD
In 2016 she moved to Livorno, Italy, to work with coach Nicola Zanotti. She had previously trained with coach Edward Korfanty at the Oregon Fencing Alliance in the United States of America in 2014. "Getting trained abroad helped me to improve my fencing skills, apart from making me a better person. Training with the best athletes has been a learning experience for me. I got to know how they take success and failures and prepare for competitions. I have a very good relationship [with Zanotti] so I can understand what he's teaching me. I was always good at adapting to new situations. That helped me to understand the Italian style of fencing, which is a very tactical form of sabre. It's difficult to learn but I was able to learn it quickly." (indiatimes.com, 16 Sep 2020; bhavanidevi.com, 24 Mar 2020; gofundme.com, 02 Apr 2015)

CONSIDERING QUITTING
She said she thought about quitting the sport due to the costs of equipment and travelling, until she was selected for a scholarship from the GoSports Foundation in 2015. "My family had spent a lot of money. There were several businesspeople who also came forward to sponsor me, but still the equipment expense is very high and I was tired of organising all those things. Then GoSports Foundation selected me under their scholarship scheme called Rahul Dravid Mentorship Program. When I went for the interview, I never thought I would get the scholarship because fencing was not a popular sport. I decided that if I didn't get the scholarship, I would stay back home [in Chennai] and stop fencing." (hindustantimes.com, 07 Sep 2020; firstpost.com, 24 Aug 2020)

FURTHER STUDIES
She earned a master of business administration [MBA] from St. Joseph's College of Engineering in Chennai, India, after gaining a bachelor's degree in business administration from Government Brennen College in Thalassery. (bhavanidevi.com, 24 Mar 2020; Facebook profile, 19 Dec 2020)

In May 2017 she became the first Indian fencer to win gold at a World Cup event when she triumphed in individual sabre at an event in Reykjavik, Iceland. (SportsDeskOnline, 09 Jul 2018)