Mustafa Faran Baig won four medals in the Asian Classic Power-Lifting Championship, including two gold medals for recording the most amounts of weights in squat and dead-lifts along with one bronze in bench press in Mongolia.
Becoming the first Pakistani to win a medal in 15 years in the tournament featuring athletes from 27 countries, Baig grabbed an overall silver medal as well. He was competing in the 93kg sub-junior category which features U18 athletes in the event.
According to the 18-year-old’s coach Muhammad Rashed, the medals were a shock at the event as the last time any Pakistani won in the Asian Classic Powerlifting event was Imran Khalid, that too in 2003 where he grabbed seven medals.
Baig was making his international debut with the event as well.
“This is a huge achievement,” Rashed told a local media outlet during his interview. “Baig had been working very hard for this, and I specifically trained him for this event to win.
“He has been training as a power-lifter for a few years now, but this is a big feat. Khalid had won seven medals in 2003, but he was competing in the open category. For Baig, that opportunity will come next time. This time around we could only have him entered in the age group and that limits the number of events.”
Rashed also added that doing well against athletes from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Japan was tough.
Baig will return to Pakistan on December 12.
Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar congratulated Baig on his outstanding performance the games. In a message, he said that Baig brightened the name of Pakistan by winning the medals.
Meanwhile, women athletes Twinkle Sohail and Rabia Razak were expected to take part in the championship, but there were issues in the travel and they could not participate.
