Indian lifters earn 2 Rio quota places

New Delhi, May 2

Two Indian weightlifters earned quota places for India for the Rio Olympics — one each in the men’s and women’s sections — at the recently-concluded Senior Asian Championships at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The women weightlifters finished third in the team championship with 100 points while the men earned 129 points to finish sixth. These standings earned two Rio Olympics quota places for the country. The Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) will hold trials across all weight divisions to select one male and one female weightlifter to represent the country at the Olympics.

“We have secured two quota places, one each in the men’s and women’s category. Now we will hold trials to select two lifters who will represent the country at the Olympics,” said IWLF vice-president Sahdev Yadav. “We will give our lifters some time to recover before we decide on a date for the trials.”

Yadav said only those lifters who are training at the national camp will be eligible to take part in the trials. “Besides, only those lifters will be considered whose whereabouts are already with the World Anti-Doping Agency and have been a part of at least two international competitions,” said Yadav.

At the Asian Championships, held from April 21-30, the Indian women, in particular, had put up an impressive performance. While the Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist Punam Yadav (63kg) bagged the sixth position, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (48kg) and Sagolsem Thasana Chanu (58kg) finished seventh in their weight divisions. 

Mirabai Chanu came up with a power-packed performance in the 48kg category, smashing the national record in snatch with an effort of 84kg. She then equalled the national record in overall lift with 190kg (with 106kg in clean &jerk) to finish seventh. She now shares the record of 190kg with current coach N Kunjarani Devi, who created it at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

“Mirabai came up with an impressive show at Tashkent. If she improves her lift by about 4kg, she has a good chance of winning a bronze medal at the Olympics,” said Yadav. – PTI