A league of its own

With an aim to promote and popularise the lesser known sport of fencing and bring it into the mainstream, Karnataka Fencing Association and K N C sports federation is organising ‘Fencing Fantasy League’ this weekend.

The first-of-its-kind to take place in the city and in India, teams of 4 from different clubs in Bengaluru will compete in three rounds.

About 18 teams are participating in the league and members from clubs such as ‘The Fencing Club Bengaluru’, the oldest club in the City and ‘Bengaluru Fencing Academy’, students from Jain University and teams from Andhra Pradesh will compete.  Lohith Vijay, the coach of ‘The Fencing Club Bengaluru’ in Indiranagar and the youngest coach in Karnataka along with Lakshmeesha, the coach of ‘Bengaluru Fencing Academy’ fuelled the idea of such a league.

Lohith says, “We decided to organise this league to spread awareness about this sport. This time of the year is an off-season for fencers and not many of us are busy with tournaments. Getting sponsors was a challenge but things fell in place and we want to provide a good platform for athletes. Here, State level and National Level players will compete against each other.” Two girls from his team are international players and Ekalavya Awardees. Ever since he started his club over a year back, Lohith has seen a growth in the fencing community. 
 
“There are many people who are aware of the sport. Parents are also encouraging children to take this up and we have conducted workshops in schools as well. I recently finished a workshop at National Institute of Technology, Karnataka. I find that the initial awareness about the term fencing and its rules are lacking but once it is explained, people are interested and understand the value of the sport.” The first round of matches will take place on April 9 and the semi-finals and final round will take place on April 10 at Fortune Sports Academy, Kengeri.