Sanjita Chanu landed India its second gold medal at the XXI Commonwealth Games, winning the top spot in the women’s 53kg category of the weightlifting competitions at the Carrara Sports Arena 1 in Gold Coast, Australia, on Friday.
In a field of 14, the 24-year-old from Manipur finished with a total of 192 kg, 10 kg clear of second placed Loa Dika Toua (Papua New Guinea) while Rachel Leblanc-Bazinet (Canada) clinched the bronze with 181 kg.
It was the second gold medal for Sanjita in her Commonwealth Games career, having stood on the top of the podium in Glasgow 2014 by winning the 48 kg class. India also created a new Games record in snatch by lifting a weight of 84 kg. In clean and jerk, her best of the day was 108 kg before compiling her winning total.
“Although I had done better in the Commonwealth Championships but still I am ok with what I managed today,” Chanu, an employee of the Indian Railways, said after her triumph.
The Indian broke down when she was presented her medal, the performance pressure of the last few months finally releasing at the podium.
“A lot of people said that probably I wasn’t good enough for a medal. My back injury that I picked up at the World Championships last year is still not fully healed. I am probably at 90 per cent right now,” said the soft-spoken youngster.
“Our physios are not allowed to be with us in the competition area due to accreditation issues. I broke down at the medal ceremony thinking about all that. It all just came crashing down, the pressure of the past few months. I am quite happy with the achievement that I claimed two gold medals,” she said.
The record she broke on Friday was also in the name of an Indian, Swarti Singh, who lifted 83 kg in snatch in the Glasgow Games.
Sanjita had claimed the gold with a total effort of 195 kg (85 kg+110 kg) in the Commonwealth Championships last year.
Deepak Lather claims bronze
Indian medal tally found an addition as young Deepak Lather claimed the bronze medal in the men’s 69 kg class of the weightlifting competition.
This was the second medal for the country on Friday as Sanjita Chanu had sparkled in the morning session and struck it rich in the women’s 53 kg category. Reigning World champion Mirabai Chanu was the one to present India with its first gold medal, winning the 48 kg division with effortless ease of Thursday.
The 18-year-old Lather, hailing from Delhi, finished with a total of 295kg (snatch 136 kg, clean and jerk 159 kg), four kg shy of the winner of the event, Gareth Evans (Wales). C. Dissanayake Mudiyanselage (Sri Lanka) took silver with a total of 297 kg.
(With inputs from PTI)
Saraswati eliminated
India had a third competitor in the fray on the day, Saraswati Rout in women’s 58kg, but the country’s hopes of a medal in this division failed to materialise as Saraswati was eliminated following her failure to clear her opening weight of 78kg in all three attempts in snatch.
The results: Men: 69kg: 1. Gareth Evans (Wal, 299), 2. C. Dissanayake Mudiyanselage (SL, 297), 3. Deepak Lather (136, 159: 295).
Women: 53kg: 1. Sanjita Chanu (84, 108: 192), 2. Lao Dika Toua (PNG) 182, 3. Rachel Leblanc Bazinet (Can) 181.
Published - April 06, 2018 07:53 am IST
