On Friday, Pooja stunned world champion Wang Lina in the final of the Asian championship in Bangkok to win the gold medal. Here it is worth mention that nearly three years ago, boxer Pooja Rani badly burnt her right hand while bursting crackers on Diwali. Against all odds, she was back to her practice routine more than a year later. Then came a debilitating shoulder injury. To most watchers, it seemed that the 28-year-old's boxing career was over. But the doughty boxer from Nimriwali village in Haryana's Bhiwani district wasn't done yet. After a two-year hiatus, Pooja scripted a fairytale comeback by becoming the national champion in the 81kg category in 2018.

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"In 2016, I burnt my hand while bursting Diwali crackers. The right hand was massively affected. I underwent a surgery and it took me nearly seven to eight months to heal. The entire recovery process lasted nearly a year," Pooja told TOI. "After my shoulder injury, many people thought my career was finished. But then I made a comeback at the 2018 Nationals and became the national champion and now I am also the Asian champion," she said. When her hand recovered, Pooja had begun to practice again before she suffered another setback. "Then at the end of 2017, such was my luck that I met with a disastrous shoulder injury. The doctors found there was a labrum tear and told me that I will be out of the sport for a considerable length of time.

Recalling how it all started for her, Pooja said, "I started boxing in 2009 when I had joined college after completing my 10+2. I joined the Hawa Singh Boxing Academy in Bhiwani where my coach was Sanjay Sheoran. My coach's wife was a lecturer in my college. She told me that I should start boxing because I was blessed with a good height (5 feet 8 inches)," she said.

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