Son of daily wage laborers Muthupandi Raja overcomes setbacks to win Commonwealth Games silver

Muthupandi Raja (ANI Photo) Chennai: The silver medal won by Tamil Nadu weightlifter Muthupandi Raja on Sunday probably belonged to his parents as much as to him. Years of drudgery as day laborers gave their son a chance to chase a dream that found his defining moment in Glasgow. The medal was the culmination of a journey that almost ended abruptly. Injuries and health problems made Raja consider quitting the sport, but his family and coaches stood by him. During the 2019 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, he suffered an injury and underwent surgery that sidelined him for almost two years. In 2022, he was diagnosed with jaundice and later underwent surgery for appendicitis, which sidelined him for almost another year. It was during this difficult phase that he thought of quitting the sport. However, the enforced break helped him complete a strength and conditioning course, in addition to learning about the sport, which taught him how to deal with injuries. Raj’s elder brother Suresh, who was also a national-level weightlifter, told TOI that it was “just the beginning”. “This silver should be an inspiration for Raja and we want to see him compete in the Olympics,” Suresh told TOI. For Raja, it all started in a small gym in Sankaralingapuram village in Thoothukudi district, where he trained alongside Suresh. Local coaches who saw the brothers’ figure convinced them to take up weightlifting. Raj’s talent quickly shone through and earned him a position at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Sports Center in Mayiladuthurai within a year. But the brothers’ paths eventually took different paths. Suresh was forced to quit the sport three years ago due to financial constraints. “Seeing my brother win a medal in Glasgow, I feel like I won the medal. What I couldn’t do, he did. The games paid off in the end,” said Suresh, who now does only odd jobs. “We didn’t know anything about weightlifting at first because we went to the gym for strength training. When we asked our parents if we could do weightlifting, they told us to do whatever we liked and supported us wholeheartedly. My father bought us everything we needed by taking loans from the villagers, and the people in our village supported us anyway.”