Commonwealth Games Day 1: Gururaja wins first medal for India, grabs Silver in 56kg Weightlifting category

India secured its first medal within hours after the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games got underway as Gururaja finished earned Silver in the 56kg Category in Weightlifting. In the snatch, he lifted a best of 111 kg, following which he added a 138 kg in his third attempt in the clean and jerk to end with a count of 249 kg- his personal best to secure a podium finish. His dream run in 2018 continues, after winning a Gold at the South Asian Games earlier this year. Muhammad Izhar Ahmad held on to the pole position with a lift of 261 kg to win the Gold medal while Sri-Lanka's Chaturanga Lakmal who was marginally behind Gururaja won the Bronze with a lift of 248 kg. Gururaja has overcome many hardships in life to achieve his goals! A son of a pick-up-truck driver, he first started his career as a wrestler and then shifted his loyalty to powerlifting and then finally chose Weightlifting to ply his trade. Actually, it was his coach who pushed him into weightlifting seeing the future prospects in the sport. [embed]https://twitter.com/TheBridge_IN/status/981718687269969921[/embed] The athlete from Karnataka began his weightlifting career in 2010, has won a Gold medal in the Commonwealth senior weightlifting championships in

Penang, back in 2016 with a personal best lift of 249 kg. Last year, the 28-year old won a Bronze medal at the Commonwealth Championships in Australia itself! Gururaja is an Air Force employee, will be returning home after scripting its name in the history books. Hopefully, he continues to keep up his good show in the near future. India began the Gold Coast Games with a bang, with many categories left in Day 1 of the meet, it is yet to be seen how many more medals India will be able to win today! Mirabai Chanu is yet to compete for the day as notable names in squash will also look to progress. Follow our live updates here.