India in Rio Paralympics 2016, 15th September schedule: List of events & Indian athletes on Day 8 of the Games

Archery

Event: Women’s Individual Recurve Round of 32

Match-up: Pooja (India) vs Milena Olszewska(Poland)

Time: 6:30pm IST

Date

Time

Sport

Event

Athlete

Sept 15

18:30

Archery

Women's Individual Recurve Round of 32

Pooja

India’s only para-archer to ever qualify for the Paralympics brought immense joy to the country after she qualified for the Round of 32. The Ranking round saw her finish at the 29^th place and the elation at her qualification was quite justified.

She started her event with a total of 47 points from the first six arrows (9,8,8,8,7,7) and bettered it in the next round where she put up 50 with the next set. She ended her first half with a cumulative score of 270. The second half went a little downhill as she registered a below-par performance which saw her put up scores of 44,49,47,44, 31 and 24 to ultimately finish 29^th.

Without a doubt, she would have registered a higher rank had her performance from the first half continued. In doing so, she set up a tough clash against Milena Olszewski of Poland.

Also read: Rio Paralympics 2016, India Archery: Pooja Khanna finished 29th in the Ranking Round of Women's Individual Recurve, to face Poland’s Milena Olszewska in next round

The 25-year old Pooja suffered from Polio as a child leaving her unfit to even string her own bow. This is one particular reason why she explicitly needs her coach to accompany her at all major competitions. Her mentor, Sanjay Suhag, is a major boost for all her participation in major events. He is reportedly the one who helped Pooja out with basic equipment when she was unable to afford them herself. hailing from Rohtak, she often mused that there were no world-class facilities available at a small town like hers.

Also read: Rio Paralympics 2016: Naresh Kumar Sharma fails to qualify for final of Mixed R6-50m Rifle Prone event, finishes 40th

She actually started out as a para-discus player, switching to World Archery much later in 2010. She quickly won her first major medal at the National Para Archery Tournament in Rohtak soon after and followed it up with a 5^th place finish at the World Ranking Event held at the Czech Republic. The latter earned her a competitive spot at this year's Paralympics.

Pooja still trains at Rohtak at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium and holds a Masters degree in Library Sciences from the Baba Mastnath University. She is the oldest of four siblings.