Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu will be back in action on Friday at the Asian Weightlifting Championships here after finishing her five-month rehabilitation at the NIS Patiala. However, Chanu has no immediate plan to go for the 90kg snatch.
The 28-year-old won a silver medal at the World Championships in December 2022 with an overall lift of 200kg (87kg +113kg).
The Commonwealth Games champion will attempt to break her personal combined best of 207kg in Jinju, South Korea. Her personal best clean and jerk lift of 119kg came in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, while her best snatch lift of 88kg happened at the 2020 Asian Championships.
Ahead of the continental championship Vijay Sharma, Chanu’s coach, said, “Mira will just participate and lift 85kg (snatch)...110kg (clean and jerk), totals that she can easily get.”
A 49kg weightlifter Chanu, battling a chronic back issue since 2020, has not yet achieved the 90kg mark in snatch.
Now, as the Asian Games is scheduled in September-October, the Manipuri weightlifter wants to regain her peak form at the Asian Championships itself.
The last time Chanu competed at the event in 2021, she created a world record in the clean and jerk category, which still stands.
Besides Chanu, CWG champions Jeremy Lalrinnunga (67kg) and Achinta Sheuli (73kg) will lead the Indian challenges. Apart from winning medals, the trio will hope to improve their Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR).
A total of six Indian weightlifters will compete at the continental championships, which is second in the series of qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The qualifiers started with the World Weightlifting Championships in 2022.
Where to watch the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2023 live in India
Indians in action today:
Indian squad
Women: Mirabai Chanu (49kg), Bindyarani Devi (55kg)
Men: Shubham Todkar (61kg), Jeremy Lalrinnunga (67kg), Achinta Sheuli (73kg), Narayana Ajith (73kg)
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