Weightlifting: After Mirabai's gold, Jeremy wins silver at Qatar International Cup

Indian weightlifters were up for a double treat on Friday as after India's weightlifting star Mirabai Chanu clinched the gold at the Qatar International Cup, Jeremy Lalrinnunga won the silver medal with a total lift of 306kg (140kg in snatch and 166kg in clean and jerk) in the men's 67kg category.

The 17-year-old from Aizawl, Mizoram had a spectacular year so far. After winning the coveted gold medal at the Youth Olympics last year, Jeremy started 2019 winning a silver at the EGAT's Cup International Weightlifting Championships. He finished the Asian Championships in the 9th position, where he went on a record-smashing spree, claiming three world marks in a power-packed performance. He also went on to win a gold and a silver in Asian Youth Championship and Asian Junior Championship, respectively.

Earlier, former world champion weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu notched up the women's 49kg category gold medal to open India's account at the 6th Qatar International Cup here on Friday.

To qualify for Tokyo, a weightlifter must compete in at least one event in each of the three periods of six months (spread over November 2018 to April 2020), at least six events overall and in at least one gold and another silver level event. Jeremy now stands at 26th position in the world and has a good chance in qualifying for the Olympics. Mirabai is ranked fourth in the world, however, stands at the 8th position in the race to the Olympics.

Also read: Road to the Olympics: The guidelines for Weightlifting in 2020

Earlier this year at the World championship, Chanu had breached the much anticipated 200kg mark by lifting her personal best in all three sections. In snatch, she lifted 87kg followed by 114kg in clean and jerk for a total of 201kg. China's Jiang Huihua (212kg) had won the gold.

Chanu, who had won 48kg gold at the World Championship 2017 edition in Anaheim, USA with an overall effort of 194kgs, returned to action in February following a lower-back injury.