Commonwealth Games gold-medallist K. Ravi Kumar humbled the field to claim victory in the men's 77kg event as the Services Sports Control Board moved atop the medal table in the senior National weightlifting championships here on Friday.
Ravi Kumar lifted a total of 306kg (138, 168), well below his best of 321kg (146, 175) from the Games. While the 22-year-old competed in the 69kg class at Delhi, he weighed in at 71.950 here and thus entered the 77kg event. The win was, however, comfortable, with Ravi Kumar not emerging from the lifters' area until the last of the other competitors had made his final attempt. “There's been a little confusion for me with my weight,” he said. “My body is not fully ready yet. Today, I thought I'd at least match my own best in the clean and jerk (175) if I crossed 170 but my back gave up at 168.”
Earlier, P. Rambabu won Services' first gold of the day with a lift of 265kg (120, 145) in the men's 69kg class. Karnataka's Naveen Chandra (114, 146, 260) and S.K. Manikandan (115, 145, 260) of Tamil Nadu finished level behind him but the former took the silver on the basis of his lower body mass.
The results: Men: 69kg: 1. P. Rambabu (SSCB) (snatch 120, clean and jerk 145, total 265); 2. Naveen Chandra (Kar) (114, 146, 260); 3. S.K. Manikandan (TN) (115, 145, 260).
77kg: 1. K. Ravi Kumar (SSCB) (138, 168, 306); 2. S. Sathish Kumar (TN) (132, 163, 295); 3. Gaurav Dubey (UP) (130, 161, 291).
Women: 69kg: 1. M.P. Kom (Del) (82, 98, 180); 2. K. Krishna Kumari (Del) (78, 99, 177); 3. Anita Shinde (Cha) (75, 98, 173).
