Mirabai betters her own national record, lifts 203kg to win gold in Nationals

Former world champion Mirabai Chanu bettered her own national record to win the 49kg gold in the National Weightlifting Championships.

Mirabai Chanu during the National Weightlifting Championships in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Former World champion S. Mirabai Chanu broke three National records as she retained her women’s 49kg title in style at the National weightlifting championships at the Khudiram Anusilan Kendra here on Tuesday.

Mirabai, who bettered her own previous snatch record of 87kg and clean and jerk mark of 114kg by one kg each, made an overall improvement of two kg to achieve a new total of 203kg.

In the run-up to the Asian Championships, which will serve as an Olympic qualifying event, Mirabai’s performance will stand her in good stead for a quota place in the Tokyo Games. It has also enhanced her prospects for a podium finish at the Olympics.

The 25-year-old, who began with 85kg, achieved a new high in snatch by lifting 88kg in her second attempt. However, her effort to raise the bar to 90kg did not succeed.

In clean and jerk, Mirabai began with 111kg and added four kg in her second attempt to rewrite the mark amid loud cheers. She also got past her previous best total of 201kg.

Mirabai’s push for 205kg did not materialize as she could not lift 117kg in her concluding attempt.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist K.Sanjita Chanu, who made a comeback to competitive lifting after a doping-related suspension, took the second place with 185kg.

In men’s 73kg, N.Ajith of Tamil Nadu stunned defending champion Achinta Sheuli to take the gold. Ajith made new snatch and total records for an overall effort of 310kg and beat Sheuli by four kg.

The results:

Men: 1. N. Ajith (TN) snatch 140kg [NR, Old 138kg, Achinta Sheuli], clean and jerk 170kg, total 310kg [NR, Old 306, Achinta Sheuli]; 2. Achinta Sheuli (WB) 138kg, 168kg, 306kg; 3. Kanhu Charan Sahu (Odi) 128kg, 162kg, 290kg. Women: 49kg: 1. S. Mirabai Chanu (RSPB) 88kg [NR, Old 87kg, Mirabai], 115kg [NR, Old 114kg, Mirabai], 203kg [NR, Old 201kg, Mirabai]; 2. K. Sanjita Chanu (RSPB) 80kg, 105kg, 185kg; 3. T. Priyadarshini (Tel) 70kg, 98kg, 168kg. 55kg: 1. Manalisha Sonowal (AIP) 81kg, 99kg, 180kg; 2. P.Ranibala Devi (Mani) 81kg, 98kg, 179kg; 3. Mandeep (Har) 80kg, 99kg, 179kg. 59kg: 1. E. Deexitha (RSPB) 88kg, 115kg, 203kg [NR, Old 202kg, Popy Hazarika]; 2. Popy Hazarika (Asm) 94kg [NR, Old 88kg, Deexitha], 108kg, 202kg; 3. Davinder Kaur (Pun) 84kg, 114kg, 198kg.