I am a Sub-Junior, technically. But on 12 July 2026, at the WPI District Powerlifting Championship in Ahmedabad, there weren't enough girls in my bracket again — so I moved up to the Junior category, meant for athletes aged 19 to 23. At 14, I was the youngest lifter on the platform. Again.
By the end of the day I had walked away with 3 Gold medals, 2 Champion of Champions titles, and 4 new personal records. Here's how it went, lift by lift.
Squat — a new PR
I opened with squat, and this was one I had been chasing for a while. 80 kg — a new competition personal record, clean and controlled. Gold in the category.
Bench Press — steady and strong
Bench has become one of my most consistent lifts. I locked in 55 kg, another new personal record, with good form throughout. Gold.
Deadlift — the big one
Deadlift is where I usually feel unstoppable, and this day was no different. 115 kg — my biggest deadlift yet, smooth off the floor and locked out with room to spare. Gold, and the lift of the day.
The total
Add the three together and the number tells its own story: 80 + 55 + 115 = 250 kg total — a new competition best, and a jump from where I stood just two weeks earlier at WRPF Gujarat.
Two Champion of Champions titles
The Champion of Champions title isn't decided by raw weight alone — it's calculated using the Wilks formula, which weighs your lift against your bodyweight, rewarding pound-for-pound strength rather than just the heaviest number on the bar. Walking away with two such titles in a single meet, as the youngest athlete in the Junior category, is something I'm genuinely proud of.
What this meet meant
Two weeks after WRPF Gujarat, where I set new PRs in bench and deadlift, I wasn't sure I had another jump left in me so soon. Turns out I did — and the squat PR I'd been chasing finally showed up too. Competing in the Junior category as a Sub-Junior athlete keeps happening to me, not because I'm trying to prove a point, but because that's simply where the competition is. I've stopped being intimidated by it and started using it.
My bigger goal remains Olympic-style weightlifting — the snatch and the clean & jerk. But these district and state meets are where I keep building the base strength and competition experience that goal will need. None of it happens without papa beside me at every session, and mom keeping everything else running so I can train.