"During summer camp in our school...": National fencing champion Taniksha on her introduction to sport

Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], January 23 (ANI): Indian fencer Taniksha Khatri, who won a gold medal in the National Championship held in Kerala earlier this month, opened up about her journey to achieving gold and the challenges she faced while representing the nation in a lesser-known sport.
Taniksha, who secured gold in the 35th Senior National Fencing Championship, spoke to ANI about her victory, her journey in fencing, the support she received, and her future goals.
Speaking to ANI, Taniksha said, "It feels really good to win the gold. I had previously won a gold as well and wanted to repeat the same feat. I am glad I could do it."
The 21-year-old shared that she first discovered fencing during a summer camp at her school and was drawn to it, despite initially being involved in athletics.
"Before this I was in athletics. During a summer camp in our school, I got to know about fencing. I saw that it was really interesting. I had seen it in movies and web series. I wanted to try it. So I tried it for a week and I continued with fencing. I started in Karnal, trained there. I started from foil (a category of fencing) for an year. My coach got transferred and I went to Patiala and gave selection trials. Since last eight years, I have been training there," she said.
Choosing to pursue fencing, a relatively unknown sport in India, brought its own set of challenges, but Taniksha remained focused on her goal of popularizing the sport in the country.
"I did not have any thoughts to go back to athletics. I am happy for it. But when you compare fencing to athletics or any other sports, others gets supported more. This played into my mind. But my goal is to make the sport well-known in India. When people ask me about my sport, they wonder if it is sword-fighting, if it causes injuries," she added.
Taniksha also noted that fencing is an expensive sport due to the cost of equipment and the fact that most tournaments are held in Europe. Her father's unwavering support, however, played a crucial role in her success.
"I did not have any sponsors. But my father supported me a lot. He got me trained abroad and sent me in as many competitions as possible. Welspun has been training me as well since last two-three years which is helping me train in Paris and play in competition," she added.
Reflecting on her narrow miss at qualifying for the Paris Olympics 2024, Taniksha admitted feeling heartbroken and considering quitting the sport. However, her coach motivated her to continue.
"I was heartbroken initially. I wanted to quit. I was given a red-card on my last point. It was so close. I felt really down mentally. My coach gave me two options: Either to spoil my whole life over a competition or get motivated by the fact you reached so close. I chose the second. Now I feel really good and I will do better next time. A lot of positives have happened," she said.
Regarding her goals, Taniksha aims to prepare for the 2026 Asian Games and improve her world ranking.
"I want to bring a gold medal in Asian Games. Also, I want to improve my world ranking. I had taken a break after Olympic qualifiers and did not feature in many ranking events," she concluded. (ANI)