Yushae DeSilva-Andrade remained upbeat despite enduring a difficult World Boccia Cup campaign in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal.

In her first competitive international action for more than two years, the 28-year-old suffered back-to-back defeats in her opening pool C matches in the BC1 Female Division.

In her first match, DeSilva-Andrade had a hard-fought encounter against Amagoia Arrieta, of Spain, eventually coming out on the wrong end of 3-2 result.

Her second match proved a tougher outing, as she was went down 5-1 defeat against Kinga Koza, of Poland.

The results have left her bottom of the three-competitor pool with only the top two from each of the three pools progressing through to the knockout phase.

However, despite the disappointment, DeSilva-Andrade refused to be too hard on herself after a difficult period, having endured not only a lack of competition but also disruption to preparation as she was forced to train at home instead of at Bermuda High School for Girls because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

“I am very proud of my performance considering that I haven’t been able to play in 2½ years due to Covid,” said DeSilva-Andrade, who is ranked 36th in the world in her division.

“The games were a little bit different this time around due to strict protocols and if you didn’t follow those protocols you couldn’t compete.

“Both of my games were close, as I only lost each end by one or two points. Overall, it has been a great experience and I can’t wait to compete again in three weeks’ time [at the Veldhoven World Boccia Challenger event in the Netherlands].

“To prepare for my next event, I’m planning on fine-tuning my technique to improve my performance.”