Real-life sisters break the clichés of fragility and ace the strength sports of powerlifting and wrestling. No, it’s not the script of a riveting Bollywood movie neither it is an anecdote exaggerated with dramatic twists and turns. Instead, it is the tale of 4 Pakistani sisters, popularly known as “Sohail sisters” or ‘Twinkle sisters’ belonging to Pakistan’s minority Christian community.
Sybil Sohail, Maryam Sohail, Twinkle Sohail, and Veronica Sohail, the pride of the nation, are also known as “power girls.” The Lahore-based quartet of sisters engraved their names in history by becoming the first four sisters to participate in Asian Powerlifting and Bench Press Championship, in Dubai.
Among the 4 sisters, Twinkle was the first to start weightlifting in 2012.
I’m training since 2012, I got my basic training from my father. I participated in 2013 and 2014 Kabadi World cups in India.
At the beginning of her career, Twinkle participated in cycling and Kabadi but kept training for power and weight lifting side by side. Her determination and hard work paid off in 2015 when she managed to secure four gold medals in Asian Bench Press Championship. In 2017, Twinkle and Sybil Sohail along with their teammates brought a total of 12 gold medals to Pakistan by participating in the International Oceania Pacific Powerlifting Championship which was held in Singapore.
Twinkle credits her father for her and her sisters’ extraordinary achievements. Her father, Sohail Javed Khokhar wanted to be a cricketer but his parents didn’t support him. So he was determined to polish whatever talent his kids might have.
“The idea was to choose an unconventional sport, not common games like cricket or football. So we chose weight and powerlifting as very few girls participate in these games.”
Twinkle’s route of success inspired her eldest sister Sybil to follow in her footsteps by pursuing a future in powerlifting. Sybil also began her career with cycling and soon started arm wrestling and athletics.
When Twinkle started weightlifting, I was also intrigued and joined her venture.
Sybil is a national Champion. She has won a number of gold medals including the gold for being the “strongest woman.” She won 4 golds in 2017 alone.
All of the 4 sisters fall into different weight categories. Sybil is in the 47kg category, Veronica is in 52, Twinkle is 76, and Maryam is in the 72kg category. Veronica, the youngest of the Sohail sisters, is also an inspiring athlete. In 2018, teenager Veronica made her international debut with style as she took the gold in the U17, 47kg event held in Dubai.
According to Veronica, she trains with her sisters who are her biggest inspiration and source of learning the best techniques.
“When we train, we give each other a very tough time. We compete with each other in lifting but at the same time we encourage and hype for each other.”
Maryam Sohail, the second eldest of the quartet, won a bronze medal in Asian Bench Press Championship held in September 2018, Dubai. Maryam shared a real-life “Dangal” moment with her sisters.
Once, Sybil and Twinkle were walking down the street in casual clothes. 2 rantipole boys mistook them for ordinary girls and teased them. This enraged Twinkle and she slapped one of the boys so hard that it ended up hitting the other one too.
The Sohail sisters got international recognition when Asian Powerlifting Federation (APF) sent compliments to Pakistan Powerlifting Federation and four Pakistani sisters for creating a “unique record” in the 2018 Asian Bench Press Championship in Dubai. The APF letter to the PPF dated August 11, 2020, said.
“In the APF powerlifting history, we never had four sisters competing at any powerlifting event and all four winning medals.”
In the future, The Twinkle girls want to represent Pakistan in South Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Olympics. According to Sybil, they need the government’s support for that as powerlifting is not affiliated with the Olympics.
“It has happened many times to us that we train so hard for an event but have to cancel the tour at the last moment due to lack of sponsors.”
Recently, ISPR acknowledged its services to Pakistan and included them in the 100 pride of Pakistan list. The power girls have paved the way for many other girls and are inspiring newbie athlete girls in Pakistan. Saiqa Nadeem, an emerging powerlifter said that she became interested in powerlifting and weightlifting through her friends at school who were none other than star athletes Sybil Sohail and Veronika Sohail, sisters of Twinkle and Maryam Sohail.
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