On Dec. 3 in Jaipur, the reigning Asian champion high‑jumper Pooja used the Khelo India University Games (KIUG) 2025 as a springboard back into competition, smashing the meet record with a 1.77 m clearance to earn gold in her first appearance at the event’s athletics program for young athletes.
The 18‑year‑old took to the air‑handled turf at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium with confidence. Earlier in the season, an ankle injury had sidelined her for almost five months, so she saw the KIUG as a chance to get back into form, test her fitness, and reset before turning her sights to the even bigger target of the 2026 Asian Games.
Pooja’s journey to this point has been remarkable. She became only the second Indian woman—after Bobby Aloysius—to capture the Asian Championship high‑jump title, leaping a personal best of 1.89 m. Hailing from Boston village in Haryana’s Fatehabad district, she had been nursing the same ankle injury that forced a long break right after a breakthrough season in 2024‑25.
When the KIUG timetable was announced, Pooja chose the competition as an ideal place to gauge where she stood physically and mentally. Representing Lovely Professional University (LPU), she entered the event aiming to surpass her personal best. While she didn’t reach 1.89 m, she was pleased to break the existing KIUG record.
“I was attempting to get past my personal best here, but even then I’m happy to break the Meet Record and get a gold medal,” Pooja told SAI Media after her win. “This was my first competition since I suffered the ankle injury five months back. I wanted to test myself in this competition.”
She was equally enthusiastic about the overall experience. “It is my first Khelo India University Games, and I’m happy to win a gold here. The facilities are at par with international standards. Unlike other competitions, athletes don’t have to worry about travel or logistics, so we can entirely focus on our events,” she added.
As part of her rehabilitation and long‑term development strategy, Pooja recently joined the Anju Bobby George Academy in Bengaluru. Her ascent began in the most modest of settings. Back in 2017, coach Balwan Patra’s humble training yard in Patra village near Bosti used a bamboo pole as the crossbar and sacks of rice husk as the landing pit. From those humble beginnings she edged up through the ranks, taking gold at the Asian Youth Championships in 2023 and a silver at the Asian Junior Championships later that same year.
After finishing sixth at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 with a 1.80 m jump, Pooja now views her KIUG performance as a crucial reset and a stepping stone toward a podium finish at the 2026 Asian Games.
“The focus is definitely on the 2026 Asian Games,” she said. “The injury disrupted my training for nearly five months, but now that I’m back in competition mode, I want to avoid distractions and focus entirely on my training.”
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