Seventeen-year-old Yasmin Bhadha of Auckland has qualified to represent New Zealand in the sub junior category in her weight class of 69 kg at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Federation Games to be held in Auckland from November 28 to December 4, 2022.
At the nationals in August this year, she won the gold in the sub junior category in the under 69 kg weight class. She lifted 115 kg in back squat (crouching and standing holding weight at the shoulder level), 60 kg in bench press (lying on her back on a bench and lifting a weight with both the arms), and set a new record for deadlift (where a loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground) at 177 kg. She broke her own previous deadlift record of 170 kg which she had set three months earlier at the North Island Championships. The world record for deadlift in her weight and age category stands at 181 kg. The disciplined sports girl believes, "You get what you work for, not what you wish for.”
Above and inset: Yasmin Bhadha declared Best Sub Junior at the
National Powerlifting Championships in New Zealand
Until 2020, Yasmin was just a regular gym goer who enjoyed her daily workouts, pushing herself beyond her own secure, comfort zone. She would devise her own exercise routines after researching online. Impressed by her determination, her gym colleagues suggested she pursue powerlifting. Not sure what it would involve, she turned to Google, and decided that she was capable of getting into the competitive sport of powerlifting with the initial coaching of one of the trainers at the gym. Seeing her potential, her trainer put Yasmin in touch with Denzil Hogan who coached at DH Strength Systems. Viewing Hogan as her "elder brother, mentor and confidant,” she adhered to the personalized, structured workout plan created by him.
She paid for her base coaching from her own earnings, working 10 hours a week as a part-time front office staff at a local gym. Initially, her parents, mother Kate who is a banking professional and father Burzin, a project manager at an insurance company feared that her lifting weights would make her heavy, bulky and muscled, impacting her overall health, body and future prospects. They did not want their only child’s academics to suffer.
Yasmin nevertheless continued to train hard and embraced powerlifting. In March 2021 her name was submitted for her first competition. Due to Covid restrictions at the time, only her coach and a school friend had accompanied her when she tasted her first victory. Soon Hogan decided Yasmin was ready for the next step and submitted her entry for the North Island Championship in May this year. It is a major event on the New Zealand power lifting arena where too she won comfortably. This time her parents sat in the audience with much trepidation. But they need not have worried for she won a gold in the 69 kg category, scoring the highest in the squats, bench press and deadlift. Since that day her parents have become her biggest cheerleaders and supporters. This win took her directly to the National Powerlifting Championships in Palmerston North in August 2022 where once again she excelled. Not only did she win a gold but she was also declared the Overall Best National Sub Junior.
Apart from being a straight ‘A’ student in her academic life, Yasmin is working towards a black belt in karate and is captain of the girls cricket team at St Kentigern College in Auckland where she studies. She is also on the women’s premium team at the Pakuranga Cricket Club and plays netball in the C1 college team at the Howick Pakuranga Netball Club.
Her normal day begins at 4 a.m. and stops well past 9 p.m. She is not left with much time to participate in other social activities including events organized by the Zoroastrian Association of New Zealand. The teenager is a practicing Zoroastrian and proud of her Parsi heritage and culture. Her father is an ordained priest.
Rashna Dorab Tata