Gujranwala teen sisters aim big in weightlifting

GUJRANWALA: More women are opting for sports that were previously considered to be the domain of man. Among them are two teenage sisters from Gujranwala who aim to make their mark in weightlifting.

“I am training for the National Women’s Weightlifting Championship but my main target is the South Asian Games,” said 14-year-old Shafaq Dar, talking to ARY News.

Shafaq and her sister Khadija Dar, 15, got into the sport because of their father, Waheed Dar, who is a weightlifter himself and served as Pakistan Army’s weightlifting coach.

“We have inherited the weightlifting from our father,” the younger athlete explained.

She expressed the hope that she will put in impressive performance in the national tournament so she gets a chance to represent Pakistan at the South Asian Games.

Khadija said their father’s association with weightlifting sparked their interest in the sport.

“Though, weight-training is hard and a male-dominated domain, we joined it,” she said.

Both athletes are being coached for national and international tournaments by Olympian Talha Talib’s father Mohammad Islam.

The coach said they are training hard and focused on the South Asian Games to be hosted by Pakistan in 2023.

Shafaq represents Wapda while Khadija Pakistan Army, he pointed out and added he was training women weightlifters for the first time.