Mirabai lifts record 203kg, wins national title
Mirabai lifts 203kg for new record, gets gold
Kolkata, February 4
Former world champion Mirabai Chanu bettered her own national record by lifting a total of 203kg to win the 49kg gold in the National Weightlifting Championships. The 25-year-old Manipuri, representing Railways here, lifted 88kg in snatch in her second attempt and 115kg in clean and jerk for a total of 203kg. Mirabai’s previous best of 201kg had come at the World Championships in Thailand in September last year, where she had finished fourth. Today’s effort has put her in the fourth place in the world rankings behind China’s Jiang Huihua (212kg) and Hou Zhihui (211kg), and North Korean Ri Song Gum (209kg).
Mirabai was targeting 207kg but lost her balance in the final attempts in both snatch and clean and jerk. She started by lifting 85kg in snatch, and raised the weight to 88kg for her second attempt, which was 1kg more than the national record and her personal best of 87kg. Mirabai looked calm as she entered the stage with a big scream and she lifted it at one go. The bar was then raised by another 2kg to 90kg, but this time she lost balance and could not complete the attempt.
She, however, looked supremely confident in her favourite clean and jerk category as she lifted 111kg and 115kg in her first two successful attempts, bettering her previous national record of 114kg. For her final attempt, Mirabai first asked for 116kg but after a quick rethink, she raised it to 117kg, with national coach Vijay Sharma cheering her strongly. She made a clean lift to the rack position and took a five-second pause before going for the jerk. However, she failed in her attempt and had to settle for a total of 203kg, bettering three national records in the process. — PTI
I still have some time left for the Asian Championships and I hope to get there (210kg) before the Olympics. Everything is going according to our plan. Our target is to achieve 206-207kg at the Asian Championships. It’s all about making some technical adjustments and power strengthening now.
Mirabai Chanu
Results
Men: 73kg: N Ajith (TN) 310 (140+170); Achinta Sheuli (WB) 306 (138+168); Kanhu Sahu (Odisha) 290 (128+162)
Women: 49kg: Mirabai Chanu (RSPB) 203 (88+115); Sanjita Chanu (RSPB) 185 (80+105); T Priyadarshini (Telangana) 168 (70+98)
Shaw makes Test comeback, Agarwal replaces Rohit for ODI series
Hamilton, February 4
Opener Prithvi Shaw made a comeback into the Indian Test team for the two-match series against New Zealand while Mayank Agarwal has replaced the injured Rohit Sharma in the ODI squad for the series that begins here tomorrow.
Shaw, who last played for India in October 2018, returns to the Test side after Rohit was ruled out of the series due to a left calf muscle strain. The two-Test series begins in Wellington on February 21. With Rohit also ruled out of three-match ODI series, Agarwal replaces him in the side and is in line to open with Shaw, provided KL Rahul continues to bat in the middle-order.
Shaw had last month received a maiden ODI call-up for the New Zealand series. He has already been in New Zealand for more than two weeks with the India A team and smashed 150 runs against New Zealand XI in his first innings on the tour.
Kuldeep Yadav, who did not make the playing XI in the five T20Is against New Zealand, has been dropped from the Test squad, with the selectors going for two specialist spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. Rahul was ignored despite a prolific run in limited-overs cricket.
Among the pacers, Navdeep Saini has made his way into the Test side following impressive performances in the limited-overs cricket. Senior pacer Ishant Sharma, who had twisted his ankle during a Ranji Trophy game last month, has kept his place in the side but his participation in the series is subject to fitness. — PTI
BOX BOX BOX
Shaw, Gill in race to open
As expected, Shubman Gill retained his place in the Test squad following a double-hundred for India A against New Zealand on Sunday. Both Shaw and Gill are openers but the former is expected to open alongside Mayank Agarwal in the first Test at Basin Reserve. Gill, who made 83 and 204* batting at No. 4, can also make the XI as a middle-order batsman.
Test squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ishant Sharma (subject to fitness clearance). PTI
India look for context in ODI battle against NZ
Hamilton, February 4
Injuries to key players has opened the door for exciting youngsters such as Prithvi Shaw to make an impression in the Indian line-up against a depleted New Zealand in the three-match ODI series starting here tomorrow.
This is India’s third ODI assignment after the ODI World Cup last year, having previously beaten West Indies (away) and Australia (at home). The Black Caps, on the other hand, play their first ODI since that infamous loss to England in the World Cup final at Lord’s in London.
Missing players
Both India and New Zealand will miss a string of first-team players due to injuries. India were dealt a major blow when Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the remainder of the tour owing to a calf injury he picked up in the final T20I. The visitors are already without injured players Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar.
For New Zealand, inspirational skipper Kane Williamson has joined the long list of injured players, which includes Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry.
Debutant openers?
Virat Kohli today said the team will stick to the strategy adopted against Australia in the Rajkot ODI, in which KL Rahul kept wickets and batted at No. 5. This means that Mayank Agarwal, Rohit’s replacement for the ODI series, is likely to open with Prithvi Shaw — India, thus, could have two openers simultaneously making their ODI debut.
In the bowling department, three pacers will probably be the norm once again. Kuldeep Yadav is slated for a comeback, given his performance against Australia at home.
New Zealand will be led by Tom Latham ahead of Tim Southee, who was the stand-in skipper during the last two T20Is. All-rounder Jimmy Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme return to the squad. Ish Sodhi is only there for the first ODI and the hosts could opt for a two-spinner attack given the slower surface at Seddon Park. — PTI
18 The last time these two sides met in the 50-overs format, New Zealand knocked India out of the World Cup with an 18-run win over two days in the second semifinal at Manchester
7.30am
Kaul’s hat-trick wrecks Andhra on Day 1
Tribune News Service
Patiala, February 6
As many as 24 wickets fell on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy Group A tie between Andhra Pradesh and Punjab here. It turned to be a game of Russian roulette with first the Andhra Pradesh batsmen getting bowled out for 97 and then Punjab crashing to 108. Punjab pacer Siddarth Kaul picked up a hat-trick en route his five-wicket haul, and Shoaib Mohammed Khan too snared five wickets Andhra.
At stumps, Andhra were 31/4 in their second innings, with skipper Ricky Bhui (8) at the crease.
Haryana take 101-run lead
Lahli: Haryana gained an upper hand on an eventful opening day of their Group C match against Assam, taking a 101-run lead after bundling out their opponents for 97 in the first innings. Haryana finished the day at 198/9.
Jaffer first to amass 12k runs
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer became the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy. Jaffer achieved the milestone today playing for Vidarbha against Kerala. Jaffer, who started off with Mumbai in First-Class cricket, had amassed 11,775 runs in the premier domestic tournament before the start of the 2019-20 season.
He made his debut in the domestic circuit in the 1996-97 season and has broken multiple records. He had become the first cricketer in the history of the tournament to go past 11,000 runs in 2018.
Brief Scores
Andhra Pradesh: 97 (Siddarth Kaul 5/24, Vinay Choudhary 3/28) and 31/4 (Vinay Choudhary 3/11); Punjab: 108 (Mandeep Singh 23; Shoaib Mohammed Khan 5/46, S Ashish 5/50)
Himachal Pradesh: 283 (Nikhil Gangta 72, R Dhawan 70; Pradeep Poojar 4/62); Railways
Assam: 97 (Rajjakuddin Ahmed 35*; Tinu Kundu 5/35; Harshal Patel 4/32); Haryana: 198/9 (RP Sharma 59, Chaitanya Bishnoi 46, Harshal Patel 28; Ranjit Mali 3/34, Mukhtar Hussain 3/38, Sidharth Sarmah 3/65).
J&K: 280/9 (Jiyaad Magrey 66, Aquib Nabi 46, Abid Mushtaq 48*; MB Mura Singh 4/85); Tripura
Uttarakhand: 83 (D Negi 21 not out; Raushan Raj 3/27, Diwesh Pathania 3/28) and 10/0; Services: 173 (Rahul Singh 45, Mumtaz Qadir 37; Mayank Mishra 6/48).
