Asian Games 2026 Weightlifting Preview: Can Mirabai Chanu end India’s 28-year wait?

Hangzhou 2023 was supposed to be the night Indian weightlifting finally returned to the Asian Games podium.

Instead, Mirabai Chanu walked away in fourth place. Bindyarani Devi finished fifth. India went home without a medal, extending a drought that has now lasted 28 years. 

Three years on, India returns to Aichi-Nagoya with a much smaller contingent but a familiar headline act.

Mirabai, a three-time Commonwealth Games champion and Olympic silver medallist, will once again lead India's challenge in the women's 49kg category. She arrives after winning another Commonwealth gold in Glasgow, but the Asian Games present a very different test.

India have won 14 weightlifting medals in Asian Games history, including five silver and nine bronze. But the country has never won gold in the sport, while its last medal came through Karnam Malleswari's silver at Bangkok 1998.

The 20th Asian Games will be held from 19 September to 4 October in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, with weightlifting scheduled from 23 to 29 September at the Nagoya City Trade and Industry Centre.

A medal that has eluded Mirabai

India's medal hopes rest heavily on Saikhom Mirabai Chanu.

The 32-year-old has already collected most of the major honours available to her. She is an Olympic silver medallist, a former world champion and a three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

But an Asian Games medal remains missing from her résumé.

Her first Asian Games appearance came as a teenager at Incheon 2014, where she finished ninth. She missed Jakarta 2018 through injury before finishing fourth in Hangzhou three years ago.

Hangzhou was particularly painful. A hip and thigh problem affected her snatch and left her outside the medals despite entering the competition as one of the favourites.

Mirabai now returns to the Asian Games after another strong Commonwealth campaign. She won the women's 48kg title at Glasgow 2026 with a Games-record total of 190kg, finishing 22kg ahead of the field.

The Asian Games, however, will offer a far tougher test.

North Korea's Ri Song-gum remains the biggest obstacle in the 49kg category. The two-time defending Asian Games champion is also the world-record holder and has beaten Mirabai in each of their four recent meetings.

The gap at Hangzhou was significant, with Ri lifting 213kg compared to Mirabai's total of around 199kg.

China's absence from the 49kg field does provide Mirabai with one less major challenger. But Ri's presence means the gold-medal battle remains a formidable one.

Mirabai's challenge, therefore, is not simply about reproducing her Commonwealth numbers. It is about putting together a clean competition against a field much closer to the level she will face at the Olympics.

India's four-woman challenge

India's four-member squad is entirely made up of women, with no Indian men competing in weightlifting at Aichi-Nagoya.

India were originally expected to have five weightlifters in Aichi-Nagoya.

That changed after Chanambam Rishikanta Singh withdrew from the men's 60kg category with a knee injury.

Rishikanta had won silver at the 2026 Commonwealth Games but had been competing through pain in Glasgow. His withdrawal means India will have no male representation in the weightlifting competition.

The result is a four-woman squad carrying India's entire medal challenge.

Gyaneshwari Yadav will compete in the women's 53kg category and represents India's other significant medal possibility.

Gyaneshwari arrives with a Commonwealth Games silver medal and a personal best of 199kg, having lifted 88kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk in Glasgow.

The Asian field, however, is considerably deeper than the Commonwealth one. China, North Korea and South Korea all have established strength in the women's lighter categories, leaving Yadav with a difficult route to the podium.

Harjinder Kaur, the Commonwealth silver medallist, will compete in the 69kg category. Like Yadav, she has already shown that she can compete at a high level at the Commonwealth Games, but the Asian Games will bring a significantly stronger field.

Seram Nirupama Devi completes India's contingent in the 61kg category.

Nirupama's Glasgow campaign ended without a total after she failed all three clean-and-jerk attempts. A completed competition in Japan will therefore be her immediate priority, with a medal representing a bigger target.

The four Indian women will also have to navigate the new IWF weight categories introduced in August 2026, with the Asian Games using a reduced set of five categories for each gender.

Why 49kg could be different this time

The women's 49kg category has traditionally been one of the most fiercely contested divisions in Asian weightlifting.

North Korea and China have dominated the class at recent Asian Games, but China have not entered a 49kg lifter in Aichi-Nagoya.

That leaves Ri Song-gum as the clear name to beat.

Chinese Taipei's Fang Wan-ling, a two-time Olympic finalist, is among the other notable competitors. She recorded a 192kg total at the 2026 Asian Championships and could be part of the medal battle.

The young Thai weightlifter Suthasini Kaeosingkhon is another name to watch in the category.

For Mirabai, that creates a potentially clearer route to the podium than in previous editions. But the gold medal remains a different proposition, with Ri's recent numbers giving her a significant advantage.

The Asian giants standing in India's way

North Korea will be one of the biggest forces across the women's competition, with Ri Song-gum representing the most significant obstacle to Mirabai in the 49kg category.

China remain one of the sport's dominant nations and will pose a major challenge in the other Indian weight categories, despite not entering a 49kg lifter.

South Korea have considerable strength across the women's middleweight categories and will be relevant to the medal battles involving Yadav and Harjinder.

Chinese Taipei have Fang Wan-ling in the 49kg field, giving Mirabai another experienced international rival.

Japan and Kazakhstan will add further depth to a competition where Asian nations traditionally dominate the podium.

Format

Each lifter will receive three attempts in the snatch and three attempts in the clean and jerk.

The best valid snatch and best valid clean and jerk will be added together to determine the lifter's total. The athlete with the highest total wins the gold medal.

A lifter who fails all three attempts in either the snatch or clean and jerk will not register a total.

The competition is entirely individual, with no team medal awarded.

The 2026 Asian Games will use the new IWF weight categories introduced on 1 August 2026. The Games will feature five men's and five women's categories, with each National Olympic Committee limited to one athlete per category.

India's four athletes will compete in the women's 49kg, 53kg, 61kg and 69kg categories.

Indian Squad

Women: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (49kg), Gyaneshwari Yadav (53kg), Seram Nirupama Devi (61kg), Harjinder Kaur (69kg)

Schedule

23 September - Women's 49kg final, 10:00 AM IST

23 September - Women's 53kg final, 01:30 PM IST

25 September - Women's 61kg final, 10:00 AM IST

27 September - Women's 69kg final, 10:00 AM IST

The weightlifting competition will run from 23 to 29 September.

Where to Watch?

The Asian Games will be broadcast live on Sony Sports Network, with live streaming available on SonyLIV in India.