BENGALURU: The fencing hall at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium is a busy place at 8 am. A bunch of young fencers are going through the paces, training for the national championships this week.Among the lot is 20-year-old Amrutha Sreenivasa , a second-year MSc (Biological Sciences) student from Bangalore University . She is one of the two fencers selected from the state to represent India at the world fencing championships in Bourges, France, starting April 1.However, Amrutha's dream of going to France is uncertain. She does not have the money to make the trip to France and back.Amrutha, who finished third in the category , Foil for girls, at the national championships in Bilaspur in December 2015 au December 2015 automatically qualified for the world championships and the Asian championships held in Saudi Arabia in February 2016. In the latter, she was the highest-ranked Indian in the Foil category for ju nior girls.As many as 48 other fencers, besides Amrutha, made the mark.They participated in the Asian championships in Saudi only because the government funded the trip. As fencing is not a `high-priority' sport for the government, it funds only one international tournament a year. Although 48 athletes qualified, only eight are going to France because they are funding themselves.Amrutha's coach, Irom Deban Singh of Manipur says that Amrutha is in top shape and hopes that she will do well at the national championships and, if she manages to go to France, in the world championship as well.But international tournaments mean more expenses. The locallymade fencing equipment that Indian athletes use costs around `8,000. The International Fencing Federation requires athletes to use specific equipment which costs `1.8 `2 lakh.Amrutha's father, Sreenivasa G, plans to borrow imported equipment for his daughter but the travel costs -which come to around a lakh -are proving to be too steep for the retired government employee, who supports his four member family with his `10,000 pension.As a last resort, he ap proached the Bang alore University , which said the travel bills would be reimbursed. “If I had money , I would have booked tickets and produced them already,“ Sreenivasa says. The bank he approached to mortgage his house for a loan would not lend anything below Rs 15 lakh.The Youth Empowerment and Sports Department was oblivious to Amrutha's plight. When asked, its di rector N Shivaprasad, said that he was unaware of the situation.Meanwhile, the Bangalore University, in a meeting on Thursday, will discuss Amrutha's case.And, is the uncertainty of the trip affecting Amrutha's train ing? “No. I just want to train and do well. Even if I make it to the world championships, it won't be easy .I have never once thought of quitting the sport for the lack of funds. Once you take up fencing, your are hooked to it for life,“ she says.