Bad news before World Weightlifting Championship, Mirabai not in medal race, India’s chances of winning medal less

Riyadh. Dropped from the Asian Games team, lifters N Ajith and Achinta Sheuli will be out to prove themselves while Mirabai Chanu will be out of medal contention after making weight at the World Championships, a mandatory qualifier for the Paris Olympics. Mirabai (49kg) has ruled herself out of medal contention in the prestigious event starting on Monday as the former champion will not lift weights in the World Championships as she aims to give her best at the Asian Games starting this month. .

She will only complete the necessary formalities to qualify for the Paris Games. Mirabai’s failure to lift the weight dealt a blow to India’s medal hopes. In his absence, no Indian weightlifter has found a place in the Group A classification, which is considered a medal contender. The lifters who lift the most when entering the tournament are placed in Group A, followed by Group B, then Group C, and so on. Ajith and Shyuli were dropped from the Asian Games team last month as they failed to meet the Sports Ministry’s selection criteria.

Competing in the 73kg category, both the lifters will be looking to give their best here. Defending national champion Ajit’s best effort before entering the competition was a lift of 305 kg and has been placed in Group C. The Commonwealth Championships gold medalist sustained minor injuries but has recovered from them and is eyeing a lift of 320kg. Ajit told PTI, “I am lifting 318 kg during training. I want to reach 320kg.” Shuli has been battling injuries since becoming the Commonwealth Games champion last year. During the last World Championship, he was ruled out due to a hamstring strain during the warm-up. The lifter from Kolkata is still troubled by back pain and that is the reason why his best performance at the time of entry was 280 kg, well below his personal best of 313 kg. They have got a place in Group D.

Shubham Todkar (61 kg) is the third male weightlifter from India. The Maharashtra player, however, has not been at his best in the last two international tournaments. “At the World Championships, I want to lift 125kg in snatch and 155kg in clean and jerk,” he said. All three are challenging in the Olympic weight categories and will be looking to earn the ranking points needed to qualify for the Paris Games. Will try to Asian Championships silver medalist Bindiarani Devi will also compete but like Mirabai, she too has her sights set on the Asian Games. The 24-year-old Indian athlete has been placed in Group C in the women’s 55kg category. This is a non-Olympic weight class. Participation in the 2023 World Championships and 2024 World Cup is mandatory under the qualification rules for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Apart from these two tournaments, the lifter will have to compete in any three events from 2022 World Championships, 2023 Continental Championships, 2023 Grand Prix One, 2023 Grand Prix Two and 2024 Continental Championships. International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will release (Olympic Qualification Rating) in each weight category after completing the qualification time. The final list will be prepared on the basis of best three performances of the lifters in the qualifying events.

Disclaimer: IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.