Ajith takes senior men’s 73kg gold

N. Ajith exults after his triumph.
| Photo Credit: K. Keerthivasan

As expected, N. Ajith of RSPB clinched the senior men’s 73kg gold with a total lift of 313kg in the National weightlifting championships here on Monday.

Facing stiff competition from L. Sadananda Singh of Services, Ajith was under pressure to perform as the Services lifter matched the reigning clean & jerk record holder (174) for a good part of the contest. Sadananda fought hard but had to settle for silver with a total of 296.

The 23-year-old Vellore-based Ajithr, however, was not happy with his lifts. “Before the contest, I had wanted to create a new record in clean & jerk and total. But once I failed to lift 165kg in clean & jerk in my first attempt, I knew my hopes of a record were as good as over.”

The results: 73kg: Senior men: 1. N. Ajith (RSPB) 143 (snatch), 170 (clean & jerk), 313 (total); 2. Sadananda Singh (SSCB) 137, 159, 296; 3. Mihir Kanta Sethi (Odi) 126, 160, 286.

Junior men: 1. Kiran Marahe (Mah) 122, 155, 277; 2. Shiva Choudhary (Del) 123, 150, 273; 3. Prabal Protim Gogoi (Asm) 119, 154, 273.

Youth men: 1. Sairaj Pardeshi (Mah) 117, 139, 256; 2. Sharthak Thapa (Goa) 111, 143, 254; 3. S. Parandhaman (TN) 113, 140, 253.

67kg: Senior men: 1. T. Madhavan (TN) 129, 157, 286; Subhash Lahre (SSCB) 125, 158, 263; 3. Markio Tario (ARN) 122, 158, 283.

Junior men: 1. Gulshan Kumar (Bih) 119, 159, 278; 2. Aniruddha Nipane (Mah) 121, 156, 277; 3. Bengia Tani (ARN) 121, 151, 272.