Pooja Rani, the lone gold medallist amongst the 10 women boxers fielded by India at the recently concluded Asian Championships in Dubai, is one of the most experienced and senior boxers in the side. Yet, Tokyo Olympics will be her first Olympics, having missed out on qualification for Rio 2016 Games. Despite only few competitions in the last two years and training hampered by COVID-19, Pooja is upbeat about putting up a good show at the delayed Games.
The team has returned to their base in Army Sports Institute, Pune. They will leave for a training and competition stint in Italy next week. Pooja, who competed in the 75 kg category, is satisfied with her performance even though she got a walkover in the semifinal. This was her second gold medal-winning feat in Asian Championships—the last one being in 2019, with the 2020 edition being cancelled due to COVID-19. Speaking about her performance at the competition, the 30-year-old told THE WEEK, "I won against the girl who beat the Olympic medal winner from Kazakhstan. Boxing-wise, my confidence level is high even though last year, for six months, we couldn't train due to lockdown and restrictions. We had a good training at Bellary and Pune, as well as on our trip to Spain. We had good sparring over there with girls from Ireland, Italy and France."
On how she is preparing for her first Olympics, the boxer from Bhiwani in Haryana, said, “I dont know what the atmosphere will be like there. It will be my first Olympics but all international tournaments bring with them the pressure of the first day. Once I am inside the boxing ring, I forget all that."
A pugilist with nearly 12 years of experience, Pooja started boxing at a young age at Hawa Singh's Boxing Academy in Bhiwani and continues to work closely with her childhood coach Sanjay Sheoran.
Her medal at the Asian Championships was her fourth in the competition, having previously won the gold in 2019, silver in 2012 and a bronze in 2015. Between 2016 and 2018, she felt burnt out because of multiple reasons, including injuries. But it is now a thing of her past; her comeback has been stupendous. "In 2016, none of the girls qualified for the Olympics. I, too, didn't feel like boxing anymore, having lost a couple of bouts continuously. But my coach told me to hang on, take a mini break and then take a call. Since my return in 2019, I have been winning medals in every tournament I participated."
Pooja said how she has also been interacting with other senior boxers like M.C. Mary Kom and Vikas Krishan Yadav to help her prepare for the Olympics. "Vikas is going for his third Olympics. He motivates me a lot. We both are southpaws—I was taking on a world champion from Panama and I told him I want to win against her at any cost. He gave me useful tips which I applied and that really helped," she said.
The last of the qualifying events for Tokyo Games finished yesterday. According to Pooja, in her weight category, boxers from China, the Netherlands, Wales and USA will be particularly tough opponents but she and her coaches are watching their bouts closely. She is looking forward to the training stint in Italy later this month where, she says, 4-5 good sparring partners and boxers will be present. She has taken her first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine on June 2 and is waiting to take her second shot before leaving for Italy.