Dharavi girl Vaibhavi Ingle, 17, had to miss nine months of her fencing practice because of COVID-19. However, she managed to win a silver medal in the foil event at the recently-concluded Senior Fencing State Championships in Nanded. Ingle, who had 11 national and 20 state level medals at the junior level to her credit, aims to win her maiden medal at the ongoing Senior National Championships at Rudrapur in Uttarakhand.

“I practised very hard at the Mumbai Fencing Association [MFA] academy, [at Shivaji Park, Dadar] on both aspects—fitness as well as weapon training. I want to be in the first three at Uttarakhand and aim to beat Manipur girl Anita to whom I lost a bronze last year,” Ingle told mid-day.com before leaving for Rudrapur on Friday.