Yushae DeSilva-Andrade, one of Bermuda’s big medal hopes at the Paralympics, made a perfect start to her campaign when winning her first pool match this afternoon.

The Bermudian, who is ranked third in the world in her boccia division, overcame a slow start to show her class in the final two ends and beat Poland’s Kinga Koza 4-1.

The match looked too close to call after the first couple of ends, with DeSilva-Andrade and Koza deadlocked at 1-1 after both picked up a single shot, but DeSilva Andrade shut out her opponent in the second half of the contest, picking up two shots in the third end and one in the last.

Troy Farnsworth, who is among DeSilva-Andrade’s coaching staff was delighted that the first hurdle has been successfully cleared.

“It was a great first victory for Yushae,” Farnsworth said.

“It’s actually the first game she has ever won at the Paralympics, as she lost both games eight years ago, so it was fantastic to see her win a match at this level.

“The first one is always tough to get through but Yushae executed some big shots when she needed to and handled the pressure well to win the match.

“We’re all very satisfied but we’re not going to get too far ahead of ourselves. It’s hugely beneficial to win your first match when you are in a pool of just three players and it’s now on to the next match..

“The good news is Yushae gets a rest day tomorrow and she’ll come out on Saturday and hopefully produce another good result.”

DeSilva-Andrade has been drawn in pool C alongside Koza and Hiromi Endo, with her next match coming against the Japanese player at 7.50am Bermuda time on Saturday.