Jeremy finishes eighth

Jeremy Lalrinnunga lifted a total of 302kg to finish eighth in the Asian weightlifting championships at Tashkent on Monday.

Jeremy, a youth Olympics champion, lifted 139kg in snatch and 163kg in clean and jerk to end with four kg less than his personal best.

Jeremy, who began with 135kg and failed in his second attempt for 139kg before succeeding in his third, was sixth after the snatch session.

The clean and jerk performance was disappointing for Jeremy as he did 163kg in his first attempt but failed in subsequent two attempts to lift 168kg.

According to chief coach Vijay Sharma, Jeremy’s performance should help him qualify for the Olympics. “Jeremy had 3200 robi points in comparison to 2700 of Saudi Arabian lifter (Nawaf Mohammed Almazyadi who competed in Group B) with whom he has a direct fight for a spot in the Olympics. Since both have done 302kg, the Saudi lifter cannot catch up with Jeremy in terms of ranking,” Sharma told The Hindu . “Jeremy had a knee issue which prevented him from giving his best in clean and jerk.”

China’s Lijun Chen (153kg, 180kg, 333kg) emerged the champion.