Indian fencer Bhavani Devi lost to world number three Manon Brunet in Tokyo Olympics

C A Bhavani Devi, India's first-ever Olympic fencer, only made it two rounds at the Games, losing to world number three Manon Brunet in the women's sabre event here on Monday.

The 27-year-old started her campaign with a strong 15-3 win over Tunisia's Nadia Ben Azizi, but in the next round, she ran across Rio Olympics semifinalist Frenchwoman Brunet, whom she lost 7-15.

Bhavani admitted that she made mistakes against Brunet but that she will accept the outcome.

The sabre is the fastest of the fencing events, with opponents slashing anywhere above the waist. The winner is the fencer who reaches the 15-point mark first.

Only the sword's tip can target the opponent in the other two events, foil and epee.

The Chennai fencer believes her trip to Tokyo provided her with vital experience to serve her in future competitions.

Bhavani explained that she had to sacrifice "being away from family and missing normal life" to pursue her passion.

Bhavani's aggression got her points against Azizi, but Brunet countered the Indian's tactics with all of her knowledge, costing her two points for leaving the game.

The Indians scored just one point in each of the first two quarters but came back in the third.

When it came to scoring scores from afar, Brunet was sharp and had better technique.

After trailing 2-8 in the final round, Bhavani needed nothing short of a miraculous performance, but Brunet remained mostly untroubled throughout the nine-minute and 48-second match.

In the first round, however, Bhavani of Chennai was the better player, taking advantage of Azizi's open stance, which helped her rack up points quickly.

In the opening three minutes of the game, Bhavani did not concede a single point, sprinting to an 8-0 advantage against the Tunisians.

Nadia got a few touches in the second phase, but the Indian kept her lead and won the match in six minutes and fourteen seconds.