CWG 2022: Weightlifter Achinta Sheuli clinches sensation Gold in men’s 73kg final

Birmingham, Aug 1: Achinta Sheuli entered the men’s 73kg final as one of the overwhelming favourites and the Indian lifter did not disappoint as he handed India the sixth medal at the ongoing Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

The 20-year-old debutant, Sheuli, clinched India’s third gold medal as he topped the standings with a total of 313 (143+170) in the men’s 73kg final.

Sheuli was in the front foot from the onset. The Indian lifter successfully pulled off three lifts in the snatch category, topping the table. Starting off with a lift of 137, Sheuli followed it up with a second lift of 140, before pulling off a successful lift of 143 in his final attempt. Sheuli's lift put him on top of the table with his closest rival - Malaysia’s Erry Hidayat Muhammad - 5kgs behind him at 138kgs.

Sheuli headed into the clean & jerk round with a CWG record lift of 143kg, that put him on top of the table. In the clean & jerk round, Sheuli started off with a successful lift of 166kg. With a total weight of 309kg, he set a new CWG record.

Pushing his limit, the Indian lifter attempted to lift 170, but failed in his second attempt in the clean & jerk round. In the third attempt, Sheuli successfully lift 170kgs in the clean & jerk round, which took took his total to 313kgs - a new CWG record.

Sheuli clinched the Gold medal with ease, with silver medallist Erry Hidayat of Malaysia 10kgs behind him with a total of 303. Canada’s Shad Darsigny took bronze with 298kgs.

Earlier in the day, 19-year-old Jeremy Lalrinnunga clinched India’s second gold medal. With a record-breaking lift of 300kgs in the men’s 67kg event, Lalrinnunga took India’s medal count to five. All medals have come from weightlifting for India.

The 19-year-old Lalrinnunga, who broke the Commonwealth Games record in snatch with a lift of 140kg, lifted 160kg in clean & jerk to complete a total of a games record-breaking 300kg. The young Indian weightlifter also injured himself in the last two attempts of clean & jerk.

Earlier, on Saturday (July 30), Mirabai Chanu, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympic Games last year, defended her Commonwealth gold from the 2018 Gold Coast edition with a record-breaking total of 201kg (88kg + 113kg) in the 49kg women's event.

Chanu’s gold took India's medal tally to three, with fellow weightlifters Sanket Sargar and Gururaja Poojary winning a silver and bronze earlier in the day in the men's 55kg and 61kg categories, respectively. Sargar opened India’s medal count in Birmingham with a silver. Sargar finished second with a total lift of 248kg, one kg shy of gold, while Gururaja finsihed third with a total lift of 269kg.

Later, Bindyarani Devi won the silver medal in the women's 55kg and sealed a fourth medal for the country. Like Mirabai, Devi also broke a Commonwealth Games record with a lift of 116kg in clean & jerk. Sheuli lived up to his potential as India’s medal count at the end of the day is six - including three golds, two silvers and a bronze. Currently on the medals tally, India is placed fifth with six medals.