Sports Trumpet exclusive interview with Pro Panja Star
Pro Panja star Sachin Goyal talks about the difficulties he has faced and how he overcame all the challenges to become a 4 time National Champion.
Arm Wrestling champion Sachin Goyal shares his experience regarding the ups and downs he has faced before winning the Pro Panja League.
In an exclusive interview with us, Sachin Goyal speaks about his beloved sport Arm Wrestling, how he managed to reach the summit and what his major goal is.
Journey of Pro Panja League Champion Sachin Goyal
Sachin has been an arm wrestler since 5 years.
He has always fond of “Panja” but had never thought he’ll be pursuing a career in it, before he met his Guruji Mukesh. He met his sir one day in the gym and that’s when his splendid yet young career commenced. Mukesh, a former World Champion in Arm Wrestling was impressed by the muscular strength had in his arms. Taking his Guruji’s advice, Sachin went on to compete at the national level, after winning at the state level. Sachin was a junior at the National level. Unfortunately, he was unable to replicate his efforts at the National level and lost.
But, this did not demotivate him from challenging again. Sachin noticed that the arm wrestling is a game of power and strength. This piqued his interest in the sport and as a result, he chose to make a career out of it.
Next, Sachin answered about the support that he got from his parents, when he first decided to start arm wrestling.
One of the reasons Sachin was supported a lot by his parents in sports was because he wasn’t as bright when it came to studies. When Sachin started for the first time, the young star took his dad to meet his sir. His sir heaped deserved praise on Sachin and this helped clear the parents’s doubts of a career in the field of arm wrestling.
After struggling in the initial stages, Sachin got his first medal at the National level. Not only was it a bronze medal, but also a ticket to approval of his parents, regarding pursuing a career in arm wrestling.
Sachin then listed the achievements he has had over the past few years. He has won the Nationals at a senior level, the “Champion of Champions” that crowned him Mr MP and so on.
One of the aims of winning the national level for Sachin was to get fame. To build a name for himself in this field. The other reason was to get a “Bikra award”.
This is an award given in Madhya Pradesh, on the basis of excellence in the field of sports. For this award, the national medals won by an athlete count as points. The winner of this award gets a job in the Government and is one of the prestigious award in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
More the medals attained, more the points and higher the chances of winning the award is the mantra of success for Sachin Goyal.
Sachin then talks about the time when he earned his first gold medal.
I was a young player, who had just started competing at the National level. Fortunately, I went on to win the gold after winning against the experienced pros, at the senior level. That was a very proud moment for me and my sir.
My next goal is to nceome the “Champion of champions” at the national level.
2019 was one of the most successful years for Sachin. He won the Champion of Championa, became Mr MP and won the champions of champion in an inter University competition. He shares about his mindset during that phase.
Sachin said, “When one continues winning at the highest level, that person starts to develop greed of continuing his winning run, as long as possible. That is the same feeling I got, as the games progressed. I want to become the Champion of Champions, World Champion, keep practising and give our best everytime we play were the thoughts that helped Sachin continue his winning run. Once you lose, we get demotivated and want to stop but, this is not the type of mindset I have. I want to achieve as much as possible and these achievements are a part of my early success and long may it continue.
When asked about who can win a medal for India at the World stage in arm wrestling, Sachin mentioned the name of Rahul Panicker.
Alongside Rahul, Sachin mentioned himself as well. Given his achievements till date, we are more than sure of a medal for Sachin at the World level.
Off all the arm wrestling athletes that Sachin has competed against, his closest friend/ counterpart is star arm wrestler Karaj Singh. To put this rivalry/ friendship into perspective, Sachin stated that he had fought a “Super match” against Karaj in the Pro Panja League, recently held in Mumbai.
The match went to the 5th round, to get a decider. Both Sachin and Karaj won a match apiece before Karaj beat Sachin to win the match.
Sachin’s training schedule is something that will interest as well as impress the body building enthusiasts.
The star arm wrestler has an intense training session that begins at 8 am and ends at 1 pm. He follows a schedule where he alternates between a light weight and a heavy weight work-out session. Somedays, the athlete has a “rope training session”. Here, he takes a longer break than usual, in order to have a purposeful training session.
As for the Pandemic, Sachin did a workout using the gas cylinder. Such small tweaks helped him stay fit during the lockdown. Along with weight lifting using the cylinder, Sachin revealed that a finger workout was very helpful. As Sachin was very motivated to achieve success, he did his best to stay fit during the lockdown, when the gyms were closed.
Next up, Sachin spoke about a memorable outing for him and his colleagues, when they went to Lakshmibai National Instituition of Physical Education.
There, he had fun wrestling battles against the Professors and the students there.
Read more about Sachin’s visit to LNIPE here: https://www.sportstrumpet.com/students-try-to-beat-4-time-champion-for-inr-50000/
“It was great fun to be there. There were many people waiting to arm wrestle me. In fact, they would’ve gotten INR 50,000 had they been able to beat 4 time National Champion. Of course I was able to win all the matches, I am a professional arm wrestler. It was good to see so many students interested in arm wrestling. While I was there, I spoke about the different techniques 1 can use, rules that are there. On seeing me share these things, the students and the professors, many of whom were my fans, were motivated on seeing me. I was obliged to be able to visit this campus.”
Sachin also spoke about an iconic win against Russia’s arm wrestler Arson, where he lifted the Championship.
“I played a super match with Arson. I played the match with my left hand and won the tie in 3 straight sets. It was a proud moment for me, as I enhanced India’s reputation in the field of Arm Wrestling.”
One of the major achievements of Sachin Goyal is the Major Dhyan Chand Award, Gwalior.
Speaking about this particular award, Sachin said this award is given in the state of Madhya Pradesh. This is a special award given every year to athletes who have done well in the field of sports.
To add to this, Sachin has won the Tiger of Madhya Pradesh award as well. This was a proud moment for both, me as well as my family.
Initially, my parents and family members would wonder whether I would be able to win an award or not. But as of yet, I have not returned home without a trophy. Except for the first time, I have not returned home without a medal. So nowadays, they are confident about me. They say we are not stressed out anymore as we know, you will definitely bring a medal home.
Sachin then goes on to speak and praise his Manish sir, who is also his idol.
“My idol, is my sir, Manish sir. Parvin Dabas and Preeti Jhangiani started the Pro Panja League. As a result, arm wrestlers like me got a platform, where we can compete with the very best and make a name for ourselves. This is a very big platform. Recently, I had a super match in Mumbai and after this match, I am training intensely, hoping for a good ranking in the upcoming tournaments.”
Sachin then tells us on how to register for the Pro Panja League.
“My first tournament that I participated was in Delhi. It was a ranking tournament. After that, I won a super-match. Soon, Parvin sir and Preeti ma’am started to promote us as well as the league. As I mentioned above, I played a super-match in Mumbai against my dear friend Karaj. Even though I lost, I was so happy on seeing the audience chant my as well as Karaj’s name. It felt good, making me feel like a star.”
In 2021, Sachin won Champion of Champions at the IHFF Sheru Classic presents Pro Panja Arm Wrestling Championship.
“After losing to Karaj in the super-match, I started training harder, in order to become the “champion of champions” As the season progressed, I gained momentum and reached the final, where I faced a top player from Maharashtra named Rohit. It was a very competitive match and a great experience. This match helped me become the Champion of Champions of the Pro Panja league, 2021. After winning, I felt very proud. In fact, when I touched Manish Sir’s feet on winning, he became so emotional that a tear rolled down his cheeks. It is the dream of every arm wrestler to win the Pro Panja league and as sir is also a former World Champion, he knows the importance of winning this medal. It was the dream of Manish sir that I win the Pro Panja league and I fulfilled it.”
Sachin’s next aim is to win a ranking tournament that will happen in Gwalior soon.
“After the commencement of the Pro Panja League, we have to train hard and win competitions, to make a rank for ourselves. The tournament in Gwalior is a ranking tournament and I am hoping to get the 1st seed in the tournament.
Ranking basically is done according to your weight. To get the 1st seed, I would need to beat all the players that are in my category of 80 kgs. As of now, Karaj is the 1st seed and I am 2nd. I am hoping to turn this around by the end of the tournament.”
Sachin then goes on to explain the process of participating in the Pro Panja League
“One should register to participate in the league. I do not know, if the registrations are open or not, they were open a few days ago. But as far as I know, those registrations are closed. After registering, you need to play a ranking tournament. If you rank within the top 18, to be eligible to play in the Pro Panja league.”
My brother Deepak is my biggest motivator.
“Except for my parents and my Manish sir, my beloved brother Deepak is who motivates me. He is the one who gives me the confidence to go out there and give my best. Whenever I am demotivated and am thinking about decreasing my weight to play in the lower weight category, where I am the favorite to win, Deepak bhaiya would step in to and tell me, rather increase your weight and compete at a bigger level.
Whether I lose or win a match, he is my go to person. Whenever we learn from someone who is elder to us, we always learn a lot from their experience.
Sachin Goyal’s message to the fans who want to make a name for themselves in the sport of Arm Wrestling.
“Arm wrestling is an interesting game of strength. It is not a very costly game, it’s a game that each and every one of us can afford to play. There is no need to follow a special diet, a normal diet and a proper workout is enough. We need to do a heavy workout. The workout is a bit different from the one done for Power lifting and Body building. Moreover, this is a game that everyone has played in their school days. Almost everyone has played this game, as it is a very basic game, so we hope there are more future stars, who will pursue a career in the field of Arm wrestling.”
