Shillong, Jul 15: A para armwrestler from Meghalaya, Prisca Pyngrope, is all set to represent India at the 26th World Para Armwrestling Championship 2024 in Moldova next month.
Prisca is wheelchair bound after being born with a spinal medical condition that meant that she could never walk. She is also an orphan, having never known her birth parents.
With a passion for sport and interest in armwrestling, Prisca only started using a wheelchair in Class 7; before that she literally was on her hands and knees to get around. She completed her studies in Jyoti Sroat School in Laitumkhrah and then worked at Nazareth Hospital to earn enough to support her desire to pursue further studies. Her savings and a scholarship enabled her to study Psychology at Lovely Professional University in Punjab.
On graduating, she returned to Shillong where she got a job at her old school Jyoti Sroat where she works as a receptionist.
Prisca first started playing wheelchair basketball in 2018 and she found that to be very beneficial to her health. It was only last year, in fact, that a special category was introduced for para armwrestlers in the state and she participated in two competitions.
She was later selected to be one among the more than 80 wheelchair armwrestlers to take part in a competition in Nagpur where she bagged podium places.
On the back of this performance, she was chosen by the People’s Armwrestling Federation of India to represent the country in the Moldovan capital Chisinau. Another Meghalaya armwrestler, Olivia Dkhar, has also been selected for the 45th World Armwrestling Championship 2024, which will run concurrently from 15th to 25th August.
Prisca informed that she only had a week’s time to prepare for the Nagpur tournament last month. However, for Moldova, she has a proper coach to guide her and every evening she dedicates 3-4 hours to training in preparation for her next challenge.
(Photo contributed)
