Were injured Achinta Sheuli, Mirabai Chanu forced to participate?
Vinayak Padmadeo
Gandhinagar, October 1
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Achinta Sheuli won’t say it — not on record or off it. However, if they were given a choice, both the lifters would have happily skipped the ongoing National Games.
Chanu won the women’s 49kg category gold medal on Friday with an injured left wrist. Sheuli, who had been undergoing rehabilitation for a hamstring injury, won silver today in the men’s 73kg class. He was clearly not at his best as he faltered in his first two attempts in snatch before lifting 130kg in his third.
The gold was won by Railways’ Ajith, who lifted 141kg and held an advantage of 11kg before the clean and jerk routine. To top it off, Ajith also bettered Sheuli’s national record by lifting 174kg in clean and jerk to seal gold with a total of 315kg.
Sheuli skipped the third and final attempt and settled for silver with a total of 295kg. Kerala’s Devapreedhan B took bronze with a total of 281kg.
Chanu, too, had skipped her last two attempts on Friday to avoid the risk of aggravating the injury.
“I cleared snatch in my third attempt, the body is responding well. After the Commonwealth Games, I had some trouble between the hamstring and hips, and I was undergoing rehab before coming here,” Sheuli said. “I gave my best with the kind of fitness I have gained, because I’m gradually returning to training, so overall there were issues.”
That’s enough of a hint that he shouldn’t be competing this soon. Even the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF), keeping in mind the risk of aggravating the injuries, had withdrawn entries of both the star lifters and a few others from the next week’s Asian Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain. The IWLF tried to make the officials, including the Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials, understand that the duo should not be taking part as it could slow down their recovery. The idea was to keep them in rehab so they are ready to compete at the World Championships in Colombia in December.
“Winning National Games is not the priority, doing well at the World Championships is important” said a source.
