CHENNAI: Weightlifter Akanksha Vyavahare has been on a record-breaking spree since the Youth National Championships held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha in March this year. She set six youth national records winning the 40kg gold with a total lift of 127kg (58kg in snatch and 69kg in clean & jerk) at the event.
The Maharashtra lifter then rewrote her snatch record by lifting 59kg in Leon, Mexico in June during the IWF Youth World Championships to clinch silver. Next month, she bettered her clean & jerk record in Tashkent, Uzbekistan during Asian Youth Championships. She lifted 70kg in C&J (55kg snatch) to finish with bronze.
All the records she set in the last seven months were broken again on Friday as the 15-year-old lifter finished on top of the podium at the 2nd Khelo India National Ranking Women's Weightlifting Tournament in Ghaziabad, Noida. Akanksha bettered her existing snatch record, by lifting 60kg. She then set a record in the clean & jerk section by lifting 71kg, and in the process, registered a total lift of 131kg, also a youth national record.
To begin with, Akanksha practised yogasana for two years before switching to weightlifting at the age of 11 at her uncle's insistence. "She was doing good at the district level but was missing out on top-three finishes by small margins at the state level. In yogasana, a margin of 0.5 or 1 point can cost you a podium finish. This made us change the sport," Pravin Vyavahare, Akanksha's uncle and coach, told this daily.
Pravin himself had competed in the inter-university weightlifting championships before joining a school in Manmad, Nashik. He also opened a centre in the town where children are given weightlifting training free of cost. "Despite pursuing yogasana, Akanksha and her elder sister Diya were regular at my centre as well. Yogasana only helped them. It not only made them focussed but also improved their flexibility, which can work wonders in lifting," added the coach.
Given her show in Youth Nationals, Akanksha was included in the development group of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) earlier this year. It also meant she got an opportunity to train at the SAI National Centre of Excellence in Aurangabad.
"She is only 15 so it's premature to talk about the Olympics but yes we can target the 2026 Commonwealth Games. She will start competing in the junior category next year. Her biggest strength is her sincerity and I hope she only improves from hereon," signed off the coach.
Akanksha is set to compete at the Youth National Championships scheduled in December this year and the teenager is expected to rewrite a few more records at the event before switching to the junior category next year.