Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu and World junior champion Harshada Garud will be the star attraction in the first edition of the Khelo India National Ranking women’s weightlifting championships, which will help prepare the national rankings, will play a crucial role in the selection process and will provide additional competition to the athletes.
The inaugural edition of the event for seniors, youth and juniors will be held at Nagrota Bagwan in Himachal Pradesh from June 14 to 22. Athletes finishing among the top eight will get cash prizes, starting from Rs 20,000.
Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) president Sahdev Yadav said the event would be an important competition on the National calendar. “Athletes performing well in this event will get advantage while preparing the National rankings and doing the selection for National camps and international events. The prize money is also an encouragement. We will have more such events in future,” Yadav told Sportstar .
National chief coach Vijay Sharma said the ranking event would be beneficial for the athletes. “So far, we used to have only one National championship in a year. If someone missed that for some reason, then she had to wait for a year. This event gives the athletes another competition and provides them a chance to get selected for the National camp.
“Since our women lifters perform well, more exposure will help them,” said Sharma.
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