The third day of the Commonwealth Games 2022 was a great one for India. After?Jeremy Lalrinnunga,?weightlifter Anchita Sheuli clinched the third gold for the country after. Now India's number of gold medals has gone up to three. All three golds for India have come from the weightlifting camp.
Indian weightlifter Achinta Sheuli clinched third gold for India. He made a record in the Commonwealth Games by lifting a total of 313 kg (143kg+170kg) in the 73 kg category at NEC Hall, Birmingham in the UK. But 20-year-old Achinta Sheuli, who made us proud today, reached here after a lot of struggles.
Achinta?comes from a humble background; his father used to drive a rickshaw but he died when?Achinta?was very young. He struggled a lot and faced many problems.?His?story inspires others.
Achinta Sheuli, a resident of Deulpur near Howrah, West Bengal, was born on 24 November 2001. Given their financial condition, his father Jagat Sheuli used to drive a rickshaw and work as a part-time labourer to feed the family.
"I loved kite flying and looked up to the 'poush paarbon' every year to fly kites and chase them with my friends. But little did I know that I would land up in weightlifting," Achinta laughed.?
"I was chasing a kite which landed up at the doorstep of the vyamagar (desi version of gymnasium) where my "dada" (elder brother Alok) was training. Dada's coach (Astam Das) was very impressed with wrist-work while flying kites and asked him to bring me on the next day," he added.
Nothing came easy to Sheuli. In 2013, Achinta's father suddenly died leaving them with broken hearts and looking for ways to survive. His mother then took up tailoring work so her children wouldn't starve.
"Our village is known for Zari work. So we three (him, mother and brother) also started doing embroidery work for contractors. Work would begin at 6.30 am and would continue till the evening," Achinta told PTI.
After his father died, it was very difficult to run the house with the money earned by his mother. Achinta's brother Alok dropped out of college, gave up weightlifting and became the bread earner of the family.
Alok made Achinta's dream his own and fuelled his younger brother¡¯s ambition. He encouraged Achinta and gave him the courage to move forward.
According to various reports, his brother Alok would spend whatever money he used to save on the food Achinta needed for his diet. He would give Rs 600-700 every month as pocket money and ensure that he continue training.
The Indian Army on Monday hailed and congratulated the young athlete who is an Army Havildar. "Indian Army congratulates Havildar Achinta Sheuli on winning Gold Medal in Weightlifting by lifting a total of 313 kg (GR) in Men's 73 kg Finals at CommonwealthGames2022. #Cheer4India #IndianArmy #MissionOlympics," tweeted the Indian Army's Additional Directorate General of Public Information.
Achinta's coach said, "I had many players who were physically better than Achinta, but they did not have the hunger for sports, which I saw in Achinta." Achinta's coach Das left his job at BSF to train him and a few others. In view of his financial condition, he trained him for free.
Achinta won a silver medal at the district level in 2012. In 2014, he was selected for the trial at the Army Sports Institute. He continued to take training there from 2016-17. In 2018, he came to the national camp. In the same year, he won the gold medal in the junior and senior Commonwealth Championships. In 2019, at the age of 18, he won the gold medal at the national level.
Achinta won gold at the Commonwealth Senior Championship in 2021. Now, he has made not just his family but his country proud too by winning big at the Commonwealth Games 2022.?
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