(Photo 1: Surrey’s Lions Weightlifting Club members under coach Makhan Sandhu (4th from left) shone out at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Penang City, Malaysia, where Prabdeep Sanghera (far right) won gold in the junior section and silver in the senior section, Jeenat Billen (far left) bagged silver in the youth section, Helena Billen (2nd from left) got bronze in the junior section. Simrin Sandhu (3rd from left) also participated in the youth section.)
Prabdeep Sanghera wins gold and silver medals.
Prabdeep Sanghera wins gold and silver medals.
Jeenat Billen wins silver medal.
Helena Billen wins bronze medal.
* Prabdeep Sanghera finishes her juniorship by winning gold
* Jeenat Billen makes entry a year earlier into youth, wins silver
* Helena Billen registers first victory at international level, wins bronze
WEIGHTLIFTERS of Surrey’s Lions Weightlifting Club shone out at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship (Youth, Junior and Senior) at Penang City in Malaysia from November 24 to 30.
Four weightlifters and Head Coach Makhan Sandhu of the club represented Canada in the championship: Jeenat Billen and Simrin Sandhu in the youth section, Helena Billen in the junior section, and Prabdeep Sanghera in both the junior and senior sections.
This was the last year that Prabdeep Sanghera could participate in the junior category (under 20 years of age) and she finished her juniorship with pride by winning a gold medal.
Not only that, but Prabdeep also participated in the senior category and won a silver medal. Just last May, she participated in the Junior World Championship in the 75 kg weight category and won the silver medal in snatch.
Makhan Sandhu told Asian Journal: “It was a really good year for her – she created history by doing something which no one from our community has done so far. Let’s hope that her teammates follow in her footsteps and do better than what she has accomplished.”
Jeenat Billen entered into the youth competition a year earlier than the rule permits. The minimum age as per the International Weightlifting Federation rule is 13 years, but she was only 12; however, Makhan Sandhu was able to get permission for her participation.
She was youngest weightlifter from all the participating countries and surprised everyone by winning a silver medal in the youth section, the maximum age for which is 17 or under.
Helena Billen won a bronze medal in the junior section. Last May, she also participated in the Junior World Championship. She was very happy to win her first medal at an international competition.
Simrin Sandhu also took part in the championships in the youth section.
Makhan Sandhu said that he is very happy with the performance of the club’s athletes and really appreciates the hard work of the athletes and his fellow coaches. He added: “I would not have achieved these results without the help of my colleagues Harnek Sanghera, Raghbir Sahota and Rajinder Mahey. All coaches are working on a voluntary basis.”
Makhan Sandhu also appreciated the support of sponsors and the community for helping Lions Weightlifting Club to achieve this level of performance.
