The Jammu & Kashmir Fencing Association (JKFA) has announced a historic milestone for the Union Territory, with 13 talented fencers from the region qualifying for the prestigious Asian Games 2026 selection trials, as per the communication from the Fencing Association of India.
The trials will be held at premier sporting institutions across the country — SAI NCOE Aurangabad (Foil), SAI NCOE Patiala (Epee) and the Army Sports Institute, Pune (Sabre).
The selected athletes include Vishal Thapar, Sagar Sahi, Udhayveer Singh Chandel, Shreya Gupta, Rishika Khajuria, and Kritarthi Kotwal in Sabre; Sufyan Waheed Sohil and Shivaansh Kapoor in Epee; and Riya Bakshi, Praney Singh in Foil, Ajay Kumar, Sohit Thakur in Epee and Vanya Gupta (Foil event).
JKFA President Vijay Kumar, Secretary General Adv. Supriya Chouhan, and International Referee Rashid Ahmed Choudhary have lauded the athletes. Former national and international fencers like Maninder Pal Singh, Adarsh Salathia, Ujjwal Gupta, Lucky Singh, Javed Ahmed, Mohd Tariq, Abdul Rafiq, Ankush Gupta, and Bhisham Singh also expressed their best wishes.
“We are immensely proud of these fencers who have worked tirelessly to reach this stage,” said the JKFA leadership, emphasizing the growing strength of fencing in J&K.
