Pair of 32’s to open the Senior Asian Championships

In a mixed day of results on the opening day of the 2026 Senior Asian Fencing Championships in Delhi, India, two Australian athletes managed to work their way to a top-32 result in individual competition.

The first day of the event saw both Women’s Foil and Men’s Sabre in action, with Australia represented in the Foil event by Sophia Glasson, Mayuri Muralidharan, Kirsty Xue and Rianne Leung.

In the Men’s Sabre we had Arnav Raja, Alex Brown, Yoongi Shim and Colin Chen taking to the piste.

Leung was the best placed in the Foil competition getting through to the Table of 32 where she was beaten 15-5 by Korean Byeoli Mo. Earlier she went 2-3 in her pool before beating Elizabeth Paulus of the Philippines 15-10 to advance from her T64 bout.

All other three women athletes got through their pools to advance to the round of 64 before being beaten by their opponents – Glasson going down in a tight match 15-12, Xue losing 15-6 and Muralidharan bowing out 15-3.

In the men’s Sabre it was Brown who led the way, finishing the tournament recording a personal best international result finishing in the top 32.

Brown eventually went down to Xuan Loi Nguyen of Vietnam 15-13 in a tight battle, but upon reflection he was very happy with how he went against the SEA Games Champion.

“It was very heartening to have such a strong result in the pools against some of the very best men’s Sabre fencers in the world,” he said.

“Eliminations started strong with a 15-7 victory in the T64 against a New Zealand fencer from across the ditch in Daniel Ko.

“I started strong in my T32 bout with the scores 8-7 in my favour at the break. However, I couldn’t quite maintain focus – bowing out at 15-13 after fighting my way back in the final moments of the bout.

“Overall though, I am happy with how I fenced and am looking forward to the teams comp.”

Unfortunately for Chen he was unable to progress out of the pool matches, while Shim and Raja both fell short at the round of 64.

Raja went down in a tight affair to Uzbek fencer Alpamis Urakbaecv 15-10 while Shim couldn’t quite shake off Iran’s Taha Kargarpur – also going down 15-10.

Speaking about the lead in to the event, Australian Team Manager Ursula Menz said the vibe amongst the Australian Team in India has been fantastic to be a part of.

“Despite a number of travel related issues getting over here to New Delhi, the spirit among the Australian Team has been high leading into today’s opening day of competition,” Menz said.

“It is a pretty incredible feeling being part of an Australian Team and the coaches and athletes have all gelled well together in the days leading into the event.

“The venue and the set-up in India is fantastic and it is a great experience to be part of a major international competition here.

“It is a special group that has come together and they really have shown to be supportive of each other – now we are looking forward to seeing what they can do on the piste!”

For a full list of results from the event and the rest of the competition schedule head to: https://www.fencingtimelive.com/