‘Mirabai needs to improve in snatch’, says chief National coach Vijay Sharma

Mirabai did 105kg in her first and only clean and jerk attempt to claim the gold medal with an aggregate of 191kg in the inaugural Khelo India National Ranking women’s weightlifting championships.

FILE PHOTO: Mirabai did 86kg in her first snatch attempt, but could not lift 89kg in her two subsequent attempts in the inaugural Khelo India National Ranking women’s weightlifting championships

As Mirabai Chanu on Thursday lifted 86kg in snatch in her first competition in the women’s 49kg category after the Tokyo Games, chief National coach Vijay Sharma said the Olympics silver medallist lifter needed to improve her snatch performance ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

Mirabai – who took the silver medal in Tokyo with efforts of 87kg in snatch, 115kg in clean and jerk and 202kg in total – did 86kg in her first snatch attempt, but could not lift 89kg in her two subsequent attempts in the inaugural Khelo India National Ranking women’s weightlifting championships at Nagrota Bagwan, Himachal Pradesh.

She did 105kg in her first and only clean and jerk attempt to claim the gold medal with an aggregate of 191kg.

Sharma said the main focus was on Mirabai’s snatch performance. “Her rhythm for the competition is not there. But technically she is alright as she began from 86kg.

“This event was a good test. The athlete got to know that one should not be overconfident. Also, there is a need to put in a little more effort.”

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After the Olympics, Mirabai competed in the Singapore international event in February in 55kg and gave identical performances.

“In Singapore, she started with 80kg. Here her first attempt was 86kg. She can start from 87kg and can go past 90kg,” said Sharma.

The Birmingham Commonwealth Games in late July and the World Championships in Bogota, Colombia, in December are the next big events for Mirabai.

“The first target is to improve the performance in snatch in the Commonwealth Games. She is lagging a bit. She will maintain her clean and jerk performance.

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“The World championships, where the main fight will be among lifters from some top Asian countries, will be the starting point for our preparations for the Paris Olympics,” said Sharma.

As part of its preparations for the Commonwealth Games, the Indian weightlifting contingent will leave for Birmingham a month in advance.

“We are going to Birmingham on June 24, a month prior to the event. We want to get acclimatized to the conditions and prepare well as the competition has become slightly tougher,” said Sharma