Meet Bangladesh’s youngest arm wrestling national champion, Mohammed Ashik Sarker

Growing up, arm wrestling among friends to prove one's strength is not uncommon.

But this is also a sport and it has been around as an organised sport since the 1950s. 

In Bangladesh, arm wrestling may not be widely popular, but a national arm wrestling championship is held yearly. 

Mohammad Ashik Sarkar, a 19-year-old, is the national champion for the 60-kg weight division. 

Being the youngest arm wrestling champion in the country, Ashik has aspirations of moving up weight divisions and playing in international competitions. 

He spoke to Shahnoor Rabbani of The Business Standard (TBS) about these and how he's trying to popularise arm wrestling in Bangladesh.

How did the arm wrestling journey start?
It's a very unusual story for me because more than a year ago I had no interest in arm wrestling. But one day, one of my cousins, 'Yeasmin Apu', asked me to arm wrestle with his son (Yeasin). I was 57kg and Yeasin was 89kg but surprisingly I had beaten him. So she suggested I participate in the national competition and I did that. I played three matches in that competition where the first match was very easy for me. But the second match was really difficult. My opponent was really powerful and came with a lot of arm wrestling knowledge. Though I didn't know too many arm wrestling tactics I somehow won the match with my bicep strength. I reached the semifinals after defeating two arm wrestlers. I had to play the semifinals on the same day with an exhausted hand. As a result, I've got eliminated from the tournament. But after the second match, others took notice because I had beaten a very strong guy. So after a few days, a guy named Omair Khan Panni who I had met in the tournament, introduced me to our arm wrestling community. After that, I started to practise with the community regularly. This is how the journey started. 

"It's a very unusual story for me because more than a year ago I had no interest in arm wrestling."

How did you become the national arm wrestling champion?
After the first tournament, I got introduced to the Arm Wars Association Bangladesh, a community for arm wrestlers in Bangladesh. They organise a tournament named 'King of the table'. Practising there helped me as older and more experienced arm wrestlers and past national champions would participate in matches there. That helped me in my second national tournament on November 12, 2021, which was organised by Bangladesh Arm Wrestling Association. I played six matches in that tournament. Three of them were in the group stage and three knockout matches. I was dominant in that tournament in the 60kg category and I didn't struggle to win any match. As a result, I became the National champion.

Do you see scope for arm wrestling to become popular in Bangladesh?
In Arm Wars Association we usually bring new players to the sport and we've arranged a few training grounds in Dhaka (Baridhara, Mirpur, Uttara and Puran Dhaka). We are practising in different locations every week and we are using social media to share our progress and the beauty of this sport with the people. As a result, many new people are joining us.

Does Bangladesh have enough and the right facilities to make world-class arm wrestlers?
I've been watching videos of International arm wrestlers including John Brzenk (who's called the greatest player of this game). One thing I've noticed was the tables they were playing on, was better looking than ours. After that me and my nephew, Yeasin started to research on how to make a table. After a month of research and hard work, we managed to make an international standard table. Once we uploaded the picture on Facebook, other arm wrestlers started to ask if we could make tables for them and that's how we started our arm wrestling table business. I believe this will help us get international standard arm wrestlers in the future.

How do you train to become a better arm wrestler?
I usually train myself two days a week. Every Saturday, I spar with other arm wrestlers.  I'm always trying to practice with a guy that is heavier than me so that I can push myself to my limits and get better.

What are your future plans? Can arm wrestling become your full-time career?
Currently, I'm studying to become an engineer. I love to exercise and work out daily so I'm taking this sport more as a hobby. Even though I'm a national champion I'm not thinking to take arm wrestling as my major profession. Most international arm wrestlers have different professional careers and they are taking up arm wrestling as a part-time profession. 

Any message for others that want to take up arm wrestling? 
I'll suggest everyone try this sport with proper rules and techniques. Almost everyone has tried arm wrestling at least once in their lifetime. Arm wrestling is a very beautiful sport and it doesn't cost a lot. To avoid any kind of injury, we have to follow proper rules and techniques. It's not only a game of strength but also technique.