Indian weightlifters raise medals tally with two silver and one bronze

Anand Krishnaswamy in Glasgow

Glasgow, Scotland, July 28: The Indian weightlifters continued their fine show as they added three more medals, taking their total haul so far to six medals, including one gold, four silver and one bronze besides one more bronze in Para Powerlifting.

Whilst Mirabai remains the only lifter to hoist a gold, Gyaneshwari Yadav (Women’s 53 Kg) and Valluri Ajaya Babu (Men’s 79 Kg) grabbed a silver each and Bindyarani Devi Sorokhaibam secured a Bronze in the Women’s 58 Kg division.

Gyaneshwari Yadav found herself falling short against Onome Omolola Didih of Nigeria despite a successful lift of 85 Kg set by her Nigerian rival during her second lift. The 85 Kg lift by both athletes surpassed the previous Commonwealth Games record. Gyaneshwari successfully did a lift of 88 Kg in her final attempt but was eventually surpassed by Onome who picked up 90 Kg for her second attempt followed by 93 Kg for her third attempt to set a new Commonwealth Games snatch record for the division.

In the Clean & Jerk competition Gyaneshwari briefly set the new Commonwealth Games record as she used her third and final lift to pick up 111 Kg before Onome used her third attempt to make a lift of 113 Kg and set the Commonwealth Games record in both sections of the competition as well as a new overall record of 206 Kg.

Gyaneshwari collected the silver medal after lifting a combined weight of 199 Kg (88 + 111 Kg) as Onome claimed gold with a combined weight of 206 Kg (93 + 113 Kg). Rebeka Groulx of Canada claimed the bronze medal with a combined weight of 178 Kg (83 + 95 Kg).

Valluri Ajaya Babu claimed a silver medal after lifting a combined weight of 330 Kg (149 + 181 Kg) in the Men’s 79 Kg category while Erry Hidayat Muhammad of Malaysia took the golf after lifting a combined 331 Kg (147 + 184 Kg).

The competition for the gold medal was close as Babu set a new games record in the snatch category after he lifted 149 Kg while Muhammad required his third attempt to lift 147 Kg. However, the deficit was covered up by Muhammad setting a games record with his third and final attempt in the Clean & Jerk section as he lifted 184 Kg compared to Babu’s lift of 181 Kg. The combined lift of 331 Kg by Muhammad surpassed Babu’s combined effort by one kilogram and also set the new games record.

Chris Murray of England claimed the bronze medal with a combined effort of 325 Kg (148 + 177 Kg).

In the highly competitive Women’s 58 Kg division where both the gold and silver medallists lifted more than double their bogey weight in the Clean & Jerk section of the competition Bindyarani claimed the bronze medal. She lifted a combined total of 199 Kg (87 + 112 KG). Silver medal in this division was claimed by Ann Sophie Taschereau of Canada with a combined lift of 215 Kg (94 + 121 Kg) while Rafiatu Folashade Lawal of Nigeria claimed the gold with a combined lift of 229 Kg (103 + 126 Kg).

Rafiatu set the new Commonwealth record for the snatch section of the competition with her lift of 103 Kg and also set a Games record with her lift of 126 Kg in the Clean & Jerk section with her lift of 126 Kg. Her combined lift of 229 Kg is also a new games record.