Vishwanatha B Ganiga, An International Power-Lifter

Welcome back to Coondapur.com's Talent hunt column!
This time, We are here with another extrovert hailing from Kundapura who is an INTERNATIONAL LEVEL POWER LIFTER and who secured 1 Silver Medal & 3 Bronze medals In International Level Power lifting championship.

He had won Gold Medals in more than 10 national level Power-lifting championships and lots and lots of Silver and Bronze medals in State and University level championships.

Below is the list of All his achievements followed by a short conversation we had with him.

Achievements in International Level.

Secured 1 Silver Medal and 3 Bronze medal In International Level Power lifting championship in the year of 2012 Dec 10th to 14th held at Coimbatore Tamilnadu.

Achievements in National Level

1. Secured Gold Medal in National Level Unequipped Power lifting championship in the year of 2013 Jan 24th to 30th held at Amaravathi.
2. Secured Gold Medal in Senior National Level Unequipped Power lifting championship in the year of 2013 Aug 21th to 26th held at Mangalore.
3. Secured Gold Medal in National Level Power lifting Dead-lift championship in the year of 2010 July 9th to 11th held at Jamshedpur.
4. Secured Gold Medal in Senior National Level Power-lifting Dead-lift championship in the year of 2013 Apr 10th to 14th held at Jamshedpur.
5. Secured Gold Medal in National Level Power-lifting Dead-lift championship in the year of 2013 Apr 10th to 14th held at Jamshedpur.
6. Secured Silver Medal in National Level Power-lifting Dead-lift championship in the year of 2011 Jan 20th to 23rd held at Salem Tamilnadu.
7. Secured Gold Medal in National Level Power lifting Dead-lift championship in the year of 2012 Mar 28th to Apr 1th held at Kangra Himachal Pradesh.
8. Secured Silver Medal in South India Senior Power-lifting championship in the year of 2013 Jan 3rd   to 6th held at Hyderabad.
9. Secured Bronze Medal in South India Junior Power-lifting championship in the year of 2013 Jan 3rd   to 6th held at Hyderabad.

Achievements in State Level

1. Secured Gold Medal in Senior State Level Powerlifting championship in the year of 2013 Jun 22th to 23th held at Somavarapet Madikeri.
2. Secured Bronze Medal in State Level Powerlifting championship in the year of 2011 July 16th to 17th held at Bantwal Mangalore.
3. Secured Gold Medal in State Level Powerlifting championship in the year of 2011 Dec 16th to 18th held at Mangalore.
4. Secured Gold Medal in State Level Powerlifting Bench Press championship in the year of 2012 Jan 28th to 29th held at Mangalore.
5. Secured Silver Medal in State Level Powerlifting Bench Press championship in the year of 2013 Jan 12th to 13th held at Mangalore.
6. Secured Silver Medal in State Level Powerlifting championship in the year of 2012 Nov 2nd to 4th held at Koteshwara

Achievements in University Level

1. Secured Gold Medal with new University dead-lift Record (240KG) in Mangalore university Level Power lifting championship in the year of 2011 Feb 12th to 13th held at Govt Women’s College Ajjarakadu Udupi.
2. Secured Silver Medal in Mangalore university Level Power lifting championship in the year of 2010 Mar 11th to 12th held at Mangalore Gokarnateshwara College.
3. Secured Bronze Medal in Mangalore university Level Wrestling championship in the year of 2009 Nov 11th to 13th held Sri Sharada College Basrur.

Conversation Part:

Tell us something about your parents, childhood, schooling and your career.

I was born in Kundapura. Bhaskar Rao and Padmavathi are my parents. Parents are my first preference in my life. I love them a lot!

I got my primary education in Bellary and completed my bachelors at Bhandarkars' college Kundapura. Right now I'm working for HINDUJA GLOBAL SOLUTIONS

What inspired you to get into this field?

Actually, I didn’t expect that I would become a sportsman!

But when I joined college gym classes, I got to know about my strength. Once I saw one of my senior practicing the lifting and I was greatly impressed by his knacks. So there I decided, "LET ME GIVE A TRY"and I tried also. And there after I continued practicing.

Later, In a college competition I got gold medal!! That doubled my confidence level. Later on, I also got a good trainer, Mr.Prashanth Sherigar who is also from Kundapura. He too is a national level power lifter.

He always said “Don’t try for medals, Try for Records.. I will help you to set them up!”. His words always inspired me to the most. My greatest respect to him! I'm now here because of him.

How well did your College, and Government support you in your journey?

Its sad! But the true fact. The support what I received from my college or the Government was not at all up to the mark!

Even after receiving the medals in International level competitions, I got zero recognition from the State Government. I dreamt of getting a government job considering my achievements. I also applied to many of them but got no fruitful results. Its not only my experience, but its the fact which is happening with most of the talented athletes and sportsmen.

What did you learn from your journey as a weight lifter?

The most important thing I learnt and explored in my journey is a formula to Success!

Yes, According to me:

SUCCESS=( Discipline+Dedication+Concentration+Hard work) x Patience

Discouragements, Leg pulling are very common. I still remember some people who told me that I can't even make a University medal and I really appreciate those..Because, that kind of discouragements helped me reach this stage and achieve  INTERNATIONAL LEVEL MEDAL and GOLD MEDALS IN NATIONAL LEVEL for 6 times!

Please share any one unforgettable moment of your journey.

Whatever I've achieved, it’s not an easy journey. I've faced lot of hurdles in my path. Many a times I though of quitting this line and do something else! But finally I never gave up trying one more time!

In-spite of having lots and lots of problems and hurdles, I attended International Level Competition selection camp. The happiest moment was when I got selected to compete in 1st Asian Unequipped power-lifting championship which was to be held at Coimbatore Tamilnadu and in which I finally got my International Level Medal!

For my International level championship, the total expenditure went around 1.5 lac! I heartily thank all my well-wishers who helped me to manage it.

Are you expecting any kinds of favors form government or general public which could help you achieve more? Please specify

Yes! Support is the crucial thing to achieve anything.
If we get good support from government, public we will definitely achieve more and more.

In our neighboring states, State Government will provide a good job under sports quota and even they'll reward with cash prize which will help the achiever in some or the other way. 
But in Karnataka there are no jobs reserved for Sports persons! I've also applied for cash rewards for my international level medal achievement but still even after a year, there is no progress with that.

I'm also looking for a good sponsor who can sponsor me in my future national and International level championships so that I can take the fame of my state and my country still higher.

Finally, Your message to our beloved readers.

First of all, I'd heartily like to thanks my Kundapura people who treated me as their own son and encouraged me throught!

The secret of creativity is knowing how to hide your sources! Don't ever bother about what the people will say, When people talk behind you, it obviously means that you are ahead of them!
Always remember..To walk around with an ego is a bad thing. To have confidence in yourself is a great thing.
Never loose hopes, You can achieve any thing and every thing!
All the best.. Thank you.. 

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