Promising Indian fencer Karan Singh Gurjar eyes history with Paris Olympics qualification

The 24-year-old is currently the top-ranked Indian fencer in men's Sabre and could become only second fencer from the country to reach the Olympic Games.

Karan Singh Gurjar from Rajasthan is the next best bet for India in Fencing after Olympian Bhavani Devi. The 24-year-old started his journey in 2010 and since has seen gradual improvements from cadets to juniors and finally the senior section. He is currently the top ranked fencer from India in men's Sabre and is putting in all the efforts for qualifying to the Paris Olympics 2024. If he does qualify, Karan will become only the second Indian to qualify for the Olympics.

Khel Now got an opportunity to interact with Karan Singh Gurjar on his journey in the sport for in past decade and on his shift to Orleans since last year.

Early Career

Karan Singh iterated, "I started my career in 2010. There was an athletics coach from the Army Institute of Pune, who said the sport was introduced at the centre and asked me to join the selection trial. There were several coaches in the institute. To name a few, they had Indian coach Ashwani Khatri and foreign coach Maria. At that time, the sport wasn't popular but now many know about Fencing which can be seen through the participation list in the cadets and junior section.

"For the first one and a half years, we completely focused on the footwork and then started learning the techniques. I first medaled in the sub-junior and junior sections in 2012 but then there have been instances where I have lost nationals and during those times, I used to think if I selected the wrong sport as other competitors were progressing well.

"But then I never lost complete hope rather I started to train vigorously and in the end the process took care of the results."

Financial Support

The Army Sports institute provided Karan with equipment, but funding was always an issue for the athlete to travel abroad. Defying all odds, Karan travelled to the South Africa to take part in the Commonwealth Championships and was successful — winning two medals in the cadets and junior categories. He joined hands with GoSports Foundation in 2017 and is currently part of a programme called, Go Beyond Long-Term Athlete Development programme; supported by Sony Pictures Network India.

"My first International medal came at the Commonwealth Championships 2015 in Cape Town at the cadet and junior level. At that time, I did not receive many funds and at times couldn't travel for competitions as well. My parents, cousins, coaches, senior players and several others helped me financially due to which I travelled for the Commonwealth Championships and returned with a silver medal in cadet and gold in juniors.

"In 2017, I joined hands with GoSports Foundation and since then I have attended several training camps and international competitions. Funds and sponsorships are no longer an issue and simultaneously I started receiving good equipment kits."

Transition Phase

"The transition from juniors to seniors wasn't that tough at the national level as I started competing in the seniors from a young age. Also, the top fencers in Sabre were part of the Army Sports Institute (Gisho Nidhi is one of the experienced fencers and is currently the second best ranked Indian fencer) and we all used to train together so it became easy to understand their gameplay whenever we compete at the Nationals.

"On the contrary, I faced issue in transitioning in the international stages. We hardly used to compete abroad with the exceptions being Asian Championships and World Championships."

Shift in training base to Orleans

The current world rank 67 was initially training in Pune but felt a need for going abroad and train under expert coaches. After several attempts, he joined Christian Bauer who has helped several fencers achieve success.

"For getting into the Olympics we need to participate in adequate number of tournaments which I couldn't initially. It was then I briefed GoSports about an academy in Orleans, France, run by Christian Bauer who is one of the best coaches in the circuit. Currently several top fencers across the world train under him. Go Sports helped in every way possible and after talks, shifted my training base to Orleans last year (2021).

"Christian Bauer is from Russia and in the past, he has worked in several countries like China, Italy, Russia etc. and whomever he has trained have definitely medalled at the World Championships. As a coach he has enjoyed good result and success. Few years back he left Russia and started an academy in Orleans, France which I came to know through one of my friends. During this time, I used to constantly look for coaches and thought it would be the right time to approach Bauer.

"I briefed him about myself and the results I have achieved so far. He initially wanted to see how I perform and before the Tokyo Olympics we had a World Cup in Abu Dhabi where he accessed me and liked my style of play. He gave the nod for training under him."

Adapting to European style

"There are several techniques in fencing, and it took me six months to adapt. At the beginning, I thought I could adapt quickly inside two months, but it took me longer than what I thought. For example, I have been accustomed to one type of movement for the past nine years, but I cannot change that particular style in a month or so rather would take a longer time. Slowly I started adapting to the new style and got better with it. I can now see gradual improvements in my game style.

"Asian style of fencing is different from Indian style. We follow the European style as several players including me trained under an Ukranian coach for close to two years (till 2014). Europe, in particular, have different styles with Italy, France, and Russia having their specific styles."

Season's assessment so far

It has overall been a decent season so far for the Indian. At the Padua World Cup in Italy, he defeated the then world number seven Maximme Pianfetti of Italy and finished 32nd overall out of the 203 participants. In the recently concluded Asian Championships, he finished 32nd off the 79 compatriots and overall had a decent outing.

"The first half of the season has almost gone according to my plans. There were a few competitions where I performed well and got into the top 32 and on the other hand the results in the few weren't satisfying. In particular couldn't finish higher in the recently concluded Asian Championships but if I look at my game style and play everything went well.

"My focus has always been on the training, and I have seen good improvements but, in the end, results do matter for which I will be working harder. The World Championships will be my next target which is followed by few World Cups and the Asian Games. My main aim is to qualify for the Olympics as soon as possible through the rankings which gives me more time to prepare for the Olympics.

"We have a constant team (Abhay Singh, Gisho Nidhi, Vishal Thapar, and Karan Singh) for the past year which has helped us play together. As I mentioned earlier, I know Gisho bhaiya for several years and the relationships with others has been good. We won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Championships last year and performed well at the last year's Worlds."

Unlike Karan, Gisho Nidhi, Vishal Thapar, and Abhay Singh have not taken part in events overseas constantly but have been training and practising well in India and have been a force to reckon with at the National level.

"The team events serves us an easier route to qualify for the Olympics, but our rankings currently aren't good as we have not played many tournaments together. As an individual, I have taken part in many competitions but as team we have hardly played any. Hopefully we get to play as a team more frequently going forward."

Impact of Bhavani Devi on Indian Fencing

Bhavani Devi continued her fine form and recently became the first Indian to win a medal at the Asian Championships. With this performance she rose to a career best rank of 28 in women's Sabre and looks set to qualify for second a straight Olympic Games. She has been a role model for several Indian fencers and has given a sense of hope to many to pursue and prolong their career in the sport.

"Bhavani Devi has been a trailblazer of Fencing in India. Didi was training in Pune when I started my career in the sport and slowly, she ventured into training abroad (USA, Italy, and France). The sport has seen a good uplift at the national level ever since she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. For instance, the competition level and the number of participants in the junior and senior levels at the National Championships has increased for the past two years."