Mirabai wins; CWG-bound lifters to leave on June 24

Express News Service

CHENNAI:  Despite being in training mode, Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu (49kg) comfortably finished on the top of the podium at the inaugural Khelo India Youth, Junior and Senior National Ranking Women Weightlifting Tournament in Nagrota Bagwan (HP) Thursday. She lifted 191kg (86kg in snatch+105kg in clean & jerk), 21kg more than the second pla­ced lifter Gyaneshwari Yadav 170kg (78kg+92), in the senior category. Jhilli Dalabehera finished third with a total lift of 166kg (75kg+91kg).

However, the 27-year-old Manipuri has to gradually shift in­to competition mode with wei­g­h­tlifting events scheduled at the 2022 Commonwealth Games from July 30 to August 3. “We went for national record in the last two attempts of snatch but couldn’t. At the moment, she is in preparatory mode. We just wanted to check her preparations, especially in snatch (the weaker of the two),” Vijay Sharma, head coach of the national team, told this daily.

The national record and her personal best in the snatch stands at 88kg, which Chanu had lifted during the National Championships in 2020. In her bid to better it, Chanu tried to lift 89kg in second and third attempts. “She lifted 86kg in the preparatory mode which is a good sign. Going by this standard, we are quite confident that she will achieve the set target which is lifting 90+,” he added.

A total of 15 lifters (eight men and seven women) will leave for Birmingham for a ca­mp ahead of the CWG on June 24. Sharma said they will switch to competition mode at the camp. “Now the lifters including Mirabai will start training keeping in view the upcoming events. We still have 40 days and I am sure she along with our lif­ters will achieve their targets.”

While the 2017 world champi­on (48kg) holds the world record of 119kg in clean & jerk in 49kg, she has been eyeing an improvement in the snatch section for a long time. She has also changed the technique to achieve the desired results. 

“Because of the To­kyo Games, we did not ta­m­p­e­r with her snatch technique but now we have tweaked it a bit. It’s visible and we are satisfied with the results so far.” However, Sharma believes his ward is doing good in clean & jerk. “We took just one attempt in C&J here as we don’t want to put an additional effort in that section. The 119kg world record she set during Asian Championship is good enough. We just need to maintain it.”

Meanwhile, in the 49kg Youth event, Maharashtra’s Aarati Tatgunti emerged champion with a lift of 148kg (65kg+83kg), while Panchami Sonowal of Assam lifted 143 kg (63kg+80) to secure the second spot. Haryana’s Himanshee lifted 132 kg (63kg+69kg) to finish third.

Gyaneshwari also claimed the top spot in the junior 49kg event with a 170kg (78kg+92kg) lift while Manipur’s Sanju Devi, who lifted 154kg (70kg+84kg) and V Rithika from Tamil Nadu, who hoisted 153kg (67kg+86kg), were second and third respectively. 

Speaking on Gyaneshwari, who hails from Chhattisgarh, the coach said, “She is doing good. We are happy that we have got a second line of lifters for the future.”