City powerlifter makes country proud
Neha Saini
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, December
One of India’s first raw powerlifters and national champion Vishal Khanna did the country proud by winning the recently held Global Powerlifting Alliance World Championship in Sydney,
Australia.
The Amritsar powerlifter won the gold in the 125kg raw bench press category. He lifted 257.5 kg weight, which is a record in India.
Fifteen countries had participated in the category at the event.Back from the competition, Vishal is basking in the glory he just earned.
“I was competing against some of the strongest lifters on this planet. It wasn’t a cakewalk since 25-hour flight, change of weather and dehydration does take a toll on one’s fitness. But my hard work and dedication put me ahead of every barrier and I could achieve this for me and my country,” he said. Vishal had been training for over a year for the championship and his biggest obstacle was the lack of sponsors and support.
“Setting high targets in powerlifting requires grueling training and the state-of-the-art training equipment. I tried to meet the international standards with my humble training equipment,” he said.
He also attributes his success to his students, who he says helped him during training sessions. A tough nut that he is, Vishal, who was declared the strongest man in Punjab, says that this was not one of his best performances and there is always a room for improvement.
“I am not satisfied with my performance as I couldn’t reach the target I wanted to achieve. But gold never hurts. I felt honoured and proud when they announced my name as the strongest bench presser in the history of India,” he said.
Supporting the game in the region and training young amateur powerlifters in his academy, Vishal is sure that his success will give a boost to the game and more young blood will take up the game and make the country proud.
“I have seen how the game develop internationally in the past 20 years. But in India, it still needs to be recognised,” he said. He also has some fond memories of the support the game enjoys in foreign countries.
“I was overwhelmed with the warmth given by the Indians living in Australia. My next target is to lift 300 kg and see myself in the top five lifters of the world,” he said.
He will start training for the next championship to be held in Portugal in 2015.“I will consistently work towards my target with the blessings of my near and dear ones and thousand of Indians who are supporting me through social networking sites and praying for my success. This success belongs to every Indian. More young powerlifters should come forward to do something for the nation and support the game so that it could become popular,” he says.
