Paris Paralympics 2024 Para-Canoe: Pooja Ojha fails to qualify for women’s kayak single 200m KL1 final

Veteran para-sportsperson Pooja Ojha failed to qualify for the final round of the Paris Paralympics 2024 para-canoe women’s kayak single 200m KL1 event after finishing fourth in the semi-final round on Sunday.

Pooja, 38, finished in fourth place in the women’s kayak single 200m KL1 semi-final 1, registering a timing of 1:17.23 at the Vaires-sur-Marne stadium. The result meant that the three-time ICF Paracanoe World Championships silver medalist would return empty-handed from her debut Paralympics Games appearance.

As the Paris Paralympics 2024 para-canoe contingent failed to make any addition to India’s medal tally on the final day of the ongoing quadrennial event, the country will end the tournament with a highest-ever haul of 29 medals, including seven gold medals. This is much better from that in the Tokyo Paralympics 2020, where the Indian contingent managed 19 medals in total.

Despite being a Paralympic Games debutant, Pooja Ojha will feel a sense of missed opportunity as she failed to improve upon her result from the opening round on Friday, where she finished in the bottom of her heat despite managing a marginally better timing of 1:16.09.

However, Pooja will look to take her Paris Paralympics 2024 para-canoe experience as one to learn from and will hope to bounce back at the upcoming Los Angeles Paralympics 2028.

Paris Paralympics 2024 Para-Canoe Women’s Kayak Single 200m KL1 Semi-Final Full Results

Semi-final 1

Brianna Hennessy (Canada) – 57.00 (Qualified for Final A)
Xie Maosan (People's Republic of China) – 57.26 (Qualified for Final A)
Eleonora de Paolis (Italy) – 1:04.03 (Qualified for Final A)
Pooja Ojha (India) – 1:17.23 (Eliminated)

Andrea Viviana Bracamonte (Argentina) – Disqualified

Semi-final 2

Edina Mueller (Germany) – 57.10 (Qualified for Final A)
Monika Seryu (Japan) – 57.98 (Qualified for Final A)
Jeanette Chippington (Great Britain) – 58.71 (Qualified for Final A)
Adriana Gomes Azevedo (Brazil) – 1:00.13 (Eliminated)