CWG 2018: Record-breaking Sanjita Chanu bags second gold for India

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Gold Coast, April 6: Sanjita Chanu on Friday (April 6) delivered India their second gold medal of the Commonwealth Games 2018 in Gold Coast in the women's 53kg weightlifting event.

The 24-year-old from Manipur broke the existing CWG record with a lift of 84kg in the snatch category and then lifted 108 in the clean & jerk to finish with a combined effort of 192kg.

The defending champion, Loa Dika Toua of Papua New Guinea, claimed silver with a total lift of 182 (80 in snatch and 102 in clean & jerk) and bronze went to Canada's Rachel Leblanc-Bazinet who finished with 181kg (81 in snatch and 100 in clean & jerk).

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Deepak Lather won bronze in the men's 69kg category with a total lift of 295 kg. Gareth Evans of Wales won the gold lifting 299kg and Sri Lanka's Indica Dissanayake settled for silver with 297kg.

However, there was some disappointment for India from the lifting arena as Saraswati Rout crashed out of the women's 58kg category after failing in all her three Snatch attempts.

Sanjita entered the CWG as one of the brightest medal hopes for India - she won gold four years ago at the Glasgow CWG in the 48kg category - and having switched to the 53kg category she lived up to her billing.

Sanjita began the snatch with a lift of 81kg, then equalled the CWG record with 83kg in her second attempt and then broke the record with a lift of 84kg. The previous CWG record had been set by India's Swarti Singh at Glasgow.

In clean & jerk, Sanjita moved into gold medal position with lifts of 104kg and 108kg before losing her balance in the final attempt.

That meant that Dika Toua had to lift 113kg in her final lift, but despite giving her best she stumbled, ensuring gold for Sanjita. Sanjita's gold came a day after Mirabai Chanu won gold in the women's 48 kg with a lift of 196kg and P Gururaja won silver in the men's 56kg event.

Sanjita booked a spot at the 2018 CWG after taking gold in the women's 53kg with a total lift of 195kg (85kg+110kg) at the Commonwealth Senior Weightlifting Championships last year.