There has been a lot of talk about Bhavani Devi’s loss at the Asian Games in China. Some media reports said she did not even shake hands with her opponent in disgust.
While Bhavani was indeed upset with the refereeing and said as much to RevSportz soon after her match ended, she has always been a sport and the thought of not shaking her opponent’s hand never crossed her mind.
Speaking to RevSportz from the flight on her way back, she opened up on the whole issue. “At the start of the match, for a point I had a doubt, so I asked for a video but the referee’s attitude was a bit rude I felt…and I was a bit shocked to see that …and the second or third touch too, I asked for a video and I felt the same response from him,” said Bhavani.
“And after one parry-riposte, I felt more clear it’s mine but he gave it to her. So I was a bit confused, and there I lost patience and I also felt the referee was a bit rude with me. So I started to rush and couldn’t plan well…as I lost a bit of control.
“But my opponent, to her credit, continued to fence strong and won. I was angry with myself for losing patience. So I pulled the wire a bit strongly as it was stuck with the sabre and that made it look like I threw the sabre. But I did shake hands with the opponent, her coach and the referees. It’s a rule and I obeyed and followed every bit of it.”
While she has every right to feel upset – it’s a human emotion after all – we wish her all the best for all her future endeavours, and hope she gets past this disappointment as soon as possible.