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| Edited By: Sukhada P Khandge |Source: DNA |Updated: Nov 21, 2013, 01:44 PM IST
Best judo player in Asia. An IAS aspirant. These are the epithets which could very well describe the seventeen-year-old girl from Dombivli Poorva Mathew.
“My father, KA Mathew is a judo coach and a national judo referee. My mother, too, is a karate player. So, the game was very much in my genes. Owing to the best coaching that I received, winning the gold medal in Asian Youth Judo Championship and becoming the Best Judo player for the year 2007 became possible for me,” says Poorva, who started playing judo at the age of seven.
Poorva, a class XII student of Ramnarain Ruia College, started participating in the national and international championship soon after she learnt judo and till date has won close to 76 gold medals, six silver and six bronze medals in several championships.
About her daughter who completed schooling from Sister Nivedita English School and secured 92 % in class X, her mother Leena Mathew said, “Apart from being a fantastic athlete, Poorva has always excelled in academics too. Despite securing good grades in class X exams, she opted for the arts stream as she is keen on taking up the IAS exams.”
Currently, Poorva is training at the Sports Authority of India in Bhopal, where she managed to bag one of the three seats from Maharashtra state, and is working towards her selection in the 10th Asian Junior Judo Championship.
