Bindyarani Devi finishes 9th at World Weightlifting Championships

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Bindyarani Devi made a ninth-place finish in the women's 55kg category at the IWF World Weightlifting Championships 2024 in Mahama, Bahrain on Sunday.

Competing in Group B of the 55kg non-Olympic category, the 25-year-old lifted an accumulated weight of 195kg - 85kg in snatch and 110kg in clean and jerk. Her effort was 7kg short of her personal best (PB) of 202kg, which she attained at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

In the snatch event, she lifted 85kg in her second lift but failed to lift 88kg in her final attempt.

In the clean and jerk segment, Bindyarani made a solid start by lifting 110kg. She attempted 114kg and 116kg in her next two attempts but failed to lift the bar-bell. As a result, the Indian weightlifter finished second in Group B.

The weightlifters are divided into three groups depending on their starting weights - the 12 lifters with the highest start weights feature in Group A.

Kang Hyon-gyong of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea clinched the gold medal with a total lift of 226kg (100kg snatch + 126 in Clean and Jerk).

Chinese Taipei's Chen Guan-ling won the the silver with a lift of 211kg (93 + 118) while Armenia’s Aleksandra Grigoryan bagged the bronze medal with 205kg (85 + 120).

Bindyarani would have finished fourth, had she matched her personal best of 202kg,

Earlier, Gyaneshwari Yadav of India lifted a total of 182kg and finished fifth in the women’s 49kg weight category on Saturday.

Gyaneshwari had replaced Mirabai Chanu, who gave the tournament a miss to concentrate on long-term rehabilitation.

Ditimoni Sonowal, the last remaining hope for India at the World Weightlifting Championships, has been slotted in Group C of the women's 64kg event. She will be in action on Tuesday.