KARACHI - Pakistani women proved their mettle at the Asian Powerlifting and Bench Press Championship as they won three gold, four silver and three bronze medals in Dubai to become one of the strongest female squad to emerge from the country.

Pakistan had never sent nine women at an event before and the initiative of sending more women than men paid off well. Pakistan’s Twinkle Sohail, her youngest sister Veronica Sohail and Nuzhat Jabeen grabbed gold medals. Twinkle was a favourite to win the 72kg juniors category, while teenager Veronica made her international debut with style as she took the gold in the U17, 47kg event, whereas Jabeen was competing in Master2 category.

On the other hand, Karachi-based Rabia Shahzad took the silver medal in 52kg juniors event, outclassing Indian powerlifters, while Saniha Ghafoor, who had the toughest draws got herself a silver in the 57kg juniors event. Nadia Maqsood and Rabia Razaq also settled with silver medals in the 72kg seniors and 84kg juniors events respectively.

This was a proud moment for Twinkle and Veronica as their other two sisters Mariyum Sohail won a bronze medal in the 72kg seniors’ event while Sybil Sohail finished third in the 47kg open event. “I just want every player to win medals among women. I’m just proud that all of us (sisters) will represent the country like this,” Twinkle had told The Express Tribune before going to the championship, as she and her sisters would train in Lahore throughout the year.

For Shahzad, the Asian Bench Press was a first. Also, as a girl from Karachi, where powerlifting among women is not popular at all and almost unheard of. “This was my first international competition that was affiliated with the Asian Powerlifting Federation,” Shahzad told The Express Tribune.

“The competition level was very high since all the countries from the continent were here.”

She explained that the preparation was tough as her weight had been fluctuating unusually. Her weight increased to 55 kg, but she had to reduce three kilograms to compete in the 52kg event. “It was tough, because not only did I have to lose the weight prior to the competition but also make sure that I’m improving on my lifts, but thankfully I managed and on the day of the weigh-ins I was 50kg. The last two months were a struggle,” explained Shahzad.

But on the day of the competition Shahzad feels that she could have won the gold too, however it was the intervals between the lifts that were a challenge. “During the training we get a few seconds or half a minute rest between the lifts, but over here in the competition, the rest was 12 to 15 minutes, so the body would cool down. In the first attempt I easily lifted 50kgs, but then with the second attempt I chose to go with 55kg but that felt difficult and then the third attempt too. We can’t decrease our weight in the competition. If I chose to go with 55kg in the second attempt, I would have to either go with the same or more, but I failed, so my silver was confirmed in the first attempt that way, said Shahzad, as she was going for a 57kg lift.

On the other hand, she said that training in Karachi without any proper gyms or coaches available is a challenge, but she would follow the instructions from the internet and transformed her dining room in to her training room. “There is a lot of powerlifting happening in Punjab. There is a proper equipment, gyms and there is a lot of support, in fact many girls in the squad train in Lahore with coach Rashed Malik, but in Karachi we have none. There is not one gym or coach for women here. I would just get all the information from internet. I just moved the dining table and the chairs and used my dining room as my gym to prepare,” said Shahzad.