Two-time medallist Mirabai Chanu will once again spearhead the Indian challenge in the World Weightlifting Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September.
Apart from Chanu (49kg), Commonwealth Games medallists Bindyarani Devi (55kg) and Achinta Sheuli (73kg), Shubham Todkar (61kg) and Narayana Ajith (73kg) will also compete in the world event.
The same squad will be competing at the Asian Games, barring Todkar.
It will be Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Chanu’s first competition since the Asian Championships in May, where she finished sixth.
Chanu and Bindyarani is currently in St Louis, USA for a 65-day camp under Dr Aron Horschig, a former weightlifter-turned-physical therapist and strength and conditioning coach.
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“Mira is not injured, we are working on her strength here. She will compete in the Worlds as well as the Asian Games,” national coach Vijay Sharma, who is in the US with Chanu, told PTI.
The time between the Worlds and Asian Games is very less.
The World Championships, which are generally held towards the end of the year in November and December, are scheduled to begin on September 4, and the Asian Games start less than 20 days later in Hangzhou, China from September 23.
While the Asian Games are not a qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympics, an Asiad medal is the only silverware that Chanu hasn’t won.
“An Asian Games medal is the only medal she doesn’t have so she will compete in both events,” Sharma added.
A former world champion, Chanu had returned with a silver medal in the previous edition of the World Championships in December last year.
Under the 2024 Olympic qualification rule, the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup are compulsory events.
Apart from the two above, a lifter also has to participate in three of the following events -- the 2022 World Championships, the 2023 Continental Championships, the 2023 Grand Prix 1, the 2023 Grand Prix II and the 2024 Continental Championships.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will publish the Olympic Qualification Rating (OQR) of each weight category at the end of the qualification period.
A weightlifter’s best three performances at the qualifying events will be taken into account for final assessment.
Indian Squad: Women: Mirabai Chanu (49kg), Bindyarani Devi (55kg)
Men: Shubham Todkar (61kg), Achinta Sheuli (73kg), Narayana Ajith (73kg).
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