Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (MS)

Kundapur, Sep 19: Local lad Vishwanath Ganiga made India proud in the Commonwealth Benchpress Powerlifting Championship by winning one gold and two silver medals on Wednesday, September 18.

Vishwanath created a new championship record in the dead lift category. Vishwanath is a resident of Devalkunda in the taluk. He lifted a weight of 327.5 kg in the dead lift and broke the record of 315 kg created by Stephen Manuel of England in the year 2011. In addition, he also bagged two silver medals by lifting 295.1 kg in squat and 180 kg in Benchpress categories. In total, he lifted 802.5 kg and won the gold medal.

After his record breaking performance, Vishwanath Ganiga said, "I had trained vigorously for the last six to seven months. This is the result of that effort. Let the government provide encouragement and help to sportsmen like us who strive to hoist the Indian tricolour in international events like this."