Mangaluru, KARNATAKA :

Israr Pasha won two gold medals and a silver at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championship held in South Africa

In order to make his dream of winning gold at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championship held at Potchefstroom in South Africa come true, 18-year-old Israr Pasha had to pledge his mother’s jewellery to meet his expense.

Israr, a first-year BBM student at St Aloysius College in Mangaluru, is coached at the Balanjaneya gym by Sathish Kudroli and Prachet K. He is the son of Abdulla, a businessman, and Khathija, a homemaker. He won two gold medals and a silver medal in the sub junior 120 category at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championship held at Potchefstroom in South Africa from Sept 10 to 17.

Israr said, “I had to pay a heavy price to win this gold and I am feeling very bad about it. Since my father was going through business crisis and my mother was keen that I participate in the international meet, she gave away her jewellery so that I could mortgage it to meet my expenses.

“Earlier during the year, after winning silver at a meet in Chandrapur, I qualified for the Commonwealth selection trials for which I had to pay Rs 45,000 as a non-refundable deposit. I got selected for the first camp in Jamshedpur and second camp in New Delhi and was on cloud nine when we were provided with team India track suit.

“However, to participate in the Commonwealth championship, we had to deposit Rs 1.80 lakh to the Indian Powerlifting Federation. My father gave me Rs 35,000. I was running short of cash and this was when my mother gave me her jewellery. On the last day, and at the last minute, I deposited the money and was selected to attend the third camp (practice) in Mumbai before leaving for South Africa. For all the difficulty my family has taken up, I am happy that I have won a medal. But I wish my hard work is recognised by the government. The total expense we incurred was about Rs 3 lakh,” he said.

Israr took up powerlifting when he was in class 10. He was going to a gym and powerlifter Nagaraj was his inspiration. Gradually, he won silver medal in a district meet, gold in a state meet and was even selected for nationals in the year 2015. He began his career as a powerlifter at the Veeraanjaneya Vyama Shale. He won a bronze medal and was trained by Shubhakar Shetty. Following this, there was no looking back as he won gold at the state powerlifting championship held at Surathkal but could not participate in nationals because of exams. He also won gold at the South India Powerlifting championship held in Davangere.

His mother, Katheeja, said, “Israr has been working very hard and never neglected his studies or practice. We are hoping for some support from the government so that he brings more medals to the country and is not discouraged by the financial burden.”

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com /  Bangalore Mirror / Home> News> State / by Deepthi Sanjiv, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / September 25th, 2017