This year saw 4 CUPLC members travel to Istanbul, Turkiye to represent the club and team GB at the IPF University World Cup, our largest contingent since the switch to national team selection following a strong set of BUCS results. Our lifters arrived in good spirits ahead of the competition, hoping their hard work in the gym would pay off on the international platform.
Laya
Kicking off the CUPLC campaign on day 1, alumna Laya Rasul lifted in the -47kg category, returning to the WUCS platform following her 4th place finish in 2024. Laya opened with a matched squat PB of 100kg and took the squat bronze, but depth calls on her subsequent attempts at 110kg meant she was unable to extend this. She then hit a new PB of 57.5kg on bench, placing her in 3rd moving into deadlift, where she opened with a speedy 140kg, achieving a 2.5kg comp PB with 2 further attempts. For her second pull, Laya loaded up a new University World Record of 148.5kg and moved it fast. She then jumped 7kg to 155.5kg for her final attempt, looking to further extend her new record and nudge up into 2nd overall, but despite a valiant effort was unable to get the bar past her knees. Still, Laya finished the day with a big 13.5kg total PB of 306kg, a deadlift gold and University World record (since no other lifters were able to pull past her), and a comfortable place on the overall podium with the bronze medal.
Issy
On day 2, CUPLC newcomer (but previous rival) Issy Dowling competed in the -69kg category. Issy went 3/3 on squats, finishing with a PB of 160kg. However she struggled on bench, usually her strongest lift, with her opener at 97.5kg moving much slower than expected and a technical failure on her second attempt. She managed to correct this on her 3rd bench to finish on 100kg, down on her previous best but still enough for bench gold. Going into deadlifts the competition was tight, with Issy in second place at subtotal but opening lighter than her closest competitors. 157.5kg moved fast but a jump to a 170kg second attempt slowed things down a bit. She went for a PB of 175kg on her third attempt and successfully locked it out after a massive 8 second grind, although this was not enough to prevent other lifters pulling past her onto the podium, leaving Issy with a 435kg total (+2.5 PB) and 4th overall.
Brandon
Day 3 saw alumnus Brandon Teh lifting in the -74kg category, returning from Singapore to represent CUPLC one final time. Brandon, a seasoned international competitor, went 3/3 on squats to finish with a smooth 260kg PB and squat silver. He hit a 157.5kg bench on his second attempt, below his PB but enough for the bench bronze and to be comfortably in second place heading into deadlifts. He put up a clinical performance here, finishing with a 9.5kg PB of 292.5kg on his third pull and deadlift silver. This gave Brandon a huge 21.5kg total PB of 710kg, smashing past the 700kg milestone, as well as the -74kg silver medal (second only to the newly crowned open deadlift world record holder) and 3rd placed best male lifter of the entire competition.
Shubang
Our final competitor, lifting on day 4 in the -93kg class was none other than President Shubang Nagalotimath, who had been balancing competition prep with a medical elective in Vietnam. Unfortunately an injury 1 week out limited his top end strength, but he still came out strong for a 260kg squat on his second attempt, followed by a 152.5kg bench. Following a 280kg deadlift opener he jumped to 302.5kg but could not get it past his knees, failing the lift on what appeared to be a strength issue. With one more attempt remaining, he called for reinforcement backstage from Brandon, who rushed out of the audience to provide the hype. Shubang then came out for another attempt at 302.5kg with the crowd behind him and this time managed to successfully lock out and complete the lift, earning the deadlift silver medal in the process. Although his 715kg total was down on his previous best, Shubang walked away placed 6th in a stacked class, at his first international competition.
Summary
A very successful and fun week for team CUPLC, picking up a total of 9 medals, and despite only fielding 2 lifters per gender, the men’s and women’s teams finished in 5th and 6th place respectively. As a team we would like to thank the GB university coaching team for the opportunity and excellent competition day handling, the other team GB lifters from universities around the country for the camaraderie throughout the week, and everyone who supported from back in Cambridge. Hopefully the 2026 university lifting season will see further success for our club!
