Mirabai Chanu wins gold in 49kg weightlifting; India's first gold medal in Commonwealth Games 2022

Birmingham, July 30: A world class performance by Mirabai Chanu fetched India their first gold medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022 here on Saturday (July 30). Chanu was competing in the 49 kg category of weightlifting.

She started the snatch by lifting 84 kg and then increased weight gradually to 88 kg before failing to lift 90 kg.

But even that two lifts gave her a massive 14 points advantage over her closest rival going into the clean and jerk segment. She lifted 109 kg for a total weight of 197 kg to clinch the gold and it was also a new Commonwealth Games record. Later she lifted 113 kg in clean and jerk to swell the weight to an incredible 201 kg.

Chanu, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, was in a league of her own during the entire length of the competition, and she easily maintained her edge in the Commonwealth Games as well.

It was India’s third medal from the weightlifting arena as earlier Gururaja Poojary (bronze) and Sanket Sargar annexed bronze and silver medals respectively in their categories.

Bronze for Gururaja

Gururaja Poojary ensured India a second medal on Day 2 of the Commonwealth Games 2022 when he bagged a bronze in the 61kg weightlifting competition on Saturday (July 30).

He lifted a combined (snatch / clean & jerk) with a total lift of 266 kg. Aznil Muhammad successfully defended his Commonwealth Games gold with a lift of 280 kg.

Sargar bags silver

It was India’s second medal of the day as earlier Sanket Sargar fetched a silver in the 55 kg weightlifting.

Sanket started the 55 kg snatch with a highest lift of 113 kg that gave him a big advantage going into to the clean and jerk event.

In fact, the 22-year-old Indian progressively lifted 107 kg and 111 kg and then 113 kg to decimate the field.

Malyasia’s Aniq Mohammad (107 kg) and Sri Lanka’s Dilanka Yodage (105 kg), whose lift of 112 kg was disqualified on technical ground, gave him close fight.

The clean and jerk saw the Indian underlining his dominance with ease over the other lifters. The 113 kg that he carried over to the clean and jerk gave him a massive edge in the segment and he maintained it with clean, calculated lifts.

He began the clean and jerk with a massive lift of 135 kg that gave him an overall lead of 248 kg after the first round itself and that was too huge a void to fill for other lifers. Or so it seemed.

Sanket had also suffered an elbow injury as his final two attempts to lift 138 kg and 139 kg ended up in failure.

But that affected his gold medal prospectus as the the Malaysian lifter Aniq Mohamad lifted a higher weight in his final attempt that powered his total weight to 249 kg, a mere 1 kg more than the Indian.

In fact, Sargar, son of a farmer from Kolhapur in Maharashtra, holds the Commonwealth Games and India national record with a beast lift of combined 256 kg.

Once he lifted 248 kg in the first lift itself, Sanket was set for a gold and in fact he was there for contention till the final lift of the event by the Malyasian Aniq.

It was a case of so near yet so far for the Indian. But Mirabai Chanu more than made up for all those disappointments and near misses.