Class 3 Pune boy wins bronze in U-10 at National Fencing Championship. ‘I wasn’t expecting a medal’

Eight-year-old Ahaan Daga from Pune won the bronze medal in the Under-10 Foil category at the National Fencing Championship 2025 held in Maharashtra’s Nashik on July 6.

Ecstatic about his result, Daga had gone into the tournament without a load of expectations. “My parents had just told me to go for the experience and have fun. I was not expecting to win the medal. I went and tried my best,” he told .

Daga qualified for the National Championship after winning a bronze medal in the state championship in late June in Aurangabad. He started fencing two years ago and trains at the En Garde Fencing Academy, Balewadi, under the guidance of coaches Shweta Avad and Bommai Thingbaijam. He was introduced to fencing by Avad, who is his friend’s mother.

“I found that fencing is the chess of muscles. It improves both mental and physical strength. Fencing was something different for me. It was not like football or volleyball, where you have to kick or throw something. It is also a very fast sport and I like that,” said Daga, who is currently in Class 3 at the Vidya Valley School, Sus, Pune.

The sport of fencing has three disciplines — Foil, Épée, and Sabre. In the Foil discipline, the objective is to score points by striking the target area, the opponent’s torso, with the tip of your sword. It is the most common discipline, according to the Olympics website. In the Épée discipline, any area of the opponent’s body can be struck with the tip of the sword to score points, and simultaneous touches are also allowed. The Sabre discipline allows fencers to gain points with both the tip and the side of the sword with strikes on the head, torso and upper body parts, except the hands.

On the day of the tournament, he started competing at 8 am and continued playing matches until 11.30 pm. Sharing a statement about Daga’s win, Coach Avad said, “Ahaan may be small, but he already thinks like a true sportsperson. He listens to his coach, applies strategies, and even shows rare honesty, like when he told the referee that the point belonged to his opponent. His alertness and focus throughout the game were truly impressive, especially at a time when screen distractions are so common among kids.”

Daga now aspires to represent India in fencing at the international and Olympic levels.