Pabitra Sahu achieved historic success for India and home state Odisha, winning one silver and one bronze medals in the 2024 Wheelchair Fencing Under-23 World Championships, which was held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from 21 to 23 April 2024.

Sahu won the silver medal in mens individual sabre on April 21 and bronze in individual epee event on April 23. Clemens Cursiefen (Germany) bagged the gold, while Kevin Damasceno (Brazil) and Phoopa Sae-Sim (Thailand) settled for bronze.

It would have been a gold medal for Sahu in the sabre event had he not lowered his guard towards the end of the final match. Leading 13-9 at one point, the Odisha fencer could not handle pressure due to lack of experience and lost the match 14-15.

Being the only competitor from India, Sahu had to manage everything himself at the World U-23 Championships. However, displaying remarkable skill and courage, he asserted supremacy almost throughout the sabre event, winning all of his four matches in Pool A as well as the semifinals.

A native of Dhenkanal district, Sahu was at his best in the semifinals, trouncing Thai opponent Phoopa Sae-Sim 15-5. In the epee event, Sahu beat Sheung Ho Lee (Hong Kong) 5-4 in pre-quarterfinals and Hayder Hamad (Iraq) 15-9 in quarterfinals before losing to Phoopa Sae-Sim (Thailand) 4-15 in the semifinals.

Student of BJB Autonomous College, Bhubaneswar, Sahu earned the opportunity to compete at the U-23 World Championships by winning a total of 10 medals in three National Wheelchair Fencing Championships.

The 10 medals featured two gold, two silver and one bronze this year at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu; one gold and two silver at Karnal, Haryana last year, and one gold and one bronze also at Karnal in 2021.
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PHOTO: Odisha wheelchair fencer Pabitra Sahu poses with his silver and bronze medals at the U-23 World Championships in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand on 23 April 2024.