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EXCLUSIVE: Lack of grassroots-level infrastructure & coaching hurting Indian weightlifting -- Karnam Malleswari

Malleswari, who has started her own weightlifting academy in New Delhi, has high hopes from Mirabai Chanu and Jeremy Lalrinnunga.

EXCLUSIVE: Lack of grassroots-level infrastructure & coaching hurting Indian weightlifting -- Karnam Malleswari
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By

Suhrid Barua

Published: 27 Sep 2019 10:31 AM GMT

A large chunk of Indian weightlifting hopes at the recently-concluded World Weightlifting Championship held at Pattaya, Thailand, rested on the sturdy shoulders of talented Saikhom Mirabai Chanu. And the 25-year-old Manipuri lass indeed has won many hearts, if not a ‘medal’ with her pugnacious performance that saw her attain a career-best total lift of 201 kg (87 in snatch and 114 in clean and jerk) in the 49-kg category – an effort that was more than four times her body weight.

Mirabai’s total lift of 201 kg at the World Weightlifting Championship was an improvement on her personal best of 199 kg achieved at the Asian Weightlifting Championships at Ningbo, China earlier this year. Her eye-catching display at Pattaya nearly got her a podium finish (a bronze) as she finished fourth behind North Korea’s Ri Song Gum, who had garnered the bronze hoisting 204 kg. The gold and silver medal winners in this weight category – the Chinese duo of Jiang Huihua and Hou Zhihui were far ahead, hoisting 212 kg and 211 kg respectively.

Clearly, Mirabai’s total lift of 201 kg indicates that she is a serious medal prospect at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the coming nine odd months will enable her to improve on her personal best of 201 kg during her upcoming training sessions and come out with all guns blazing at Tokyo. Of course, there is no denying the fact that the Jiang-Hou combo will strive to come hard at Mirabai in the marquee event along with Ri Songh Gum.

Mirabai’s total lift of 201 kg indicates that she is a serious medal prospect at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Mirabai’s total lift of 201 kg indicates that she is a serious medal prospect at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Barring Mirabai’s resolute performance, there wasn’t much to write about the World Weightlifting Championship-bound Indian contingent that comprised three men and four women weightlifters. Among the women weightlifters Odisha youngster Jhilli Dalabehera, a silver medallist at the 2019 Asian Championship as well as a bronze medallist at the 2018 World Junior Weightlifting Championship, was a big disappointment, failing to register a single lift in the snatch event. Sneha Soren also turned in a downbeat performance, settling for 30th position in the 55-kg category.

Rakhi Halder featuring in her second World Championship, fared a shade better finishing 14th in the 64-kg category, thus improving on her 20th positon attained in the 2018 edition. To be honest, not much was expected (in terms of medals) from the women weightlifters minus Mirabai. The story of our men’s weightlifters was more or less the same as the likes of Jeremy Lalrinnunga, Achinta Sheuli, Ajay Singh turned in tepid displays.

 Jeremy Lalrinnunga, Achinta Sheuli, Ajay Singh, Vikas Thakur, Ragala Venkat Rahul and Pardeep Singh turned in tepid displays.
Jeremy Lalrinnunga, Achinta Sheuli, Ajay Singh turned in tepid displays.

The Indian weightlifting story minus Mirabai Chanu would be concerning. Indian men weightlifters have never won any medal at the World Championship, while it is the women lifters that have been making the weightlifting world sit up and take notice of them. Our women weightlifters have won 3 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze medals – in fact there was a 20-year medal drought for our women lifters at the World Championships, until Mirabai won the gold in the 2017 edition – India last made a podium finish at the World Championships in the 1997 edition in Thailand, where they won two medals – 1 silver via Kunjarani Devi and 1 bronze via Neelam Setti Laxmi.

So what can be the remedial measures Indian weightlifting needs to undertake for the sport to thrive across the country? Sydney Olympic bronze medallist and two-time World Championship gold medallist Karnam Malleswari reckons lack of grassroots-level infrastructure and coaching are big factors for Indian weightlifting not taking off like sports like boxing, shooting or wrestling. 

Look, there four good SAI centres at Patiala, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Guwahati and youngsters who make it to the national camp train there. There is a strong need to create grassroots-level infrastructure and coaching across the country for youngsters to embrace this.

 Malleswari, who has started her own weightlifting academy in New Delhi, has high hopes from Mirabai Chanu
Malleswari, who has started her own weightlifting academy in New Delhi, has high hopes from Mirabai Chanu

The celebrated weightlifter who won the country’s first and so far only Olympic weightlifting medal, believes it is not fair to pin the blame on the Indian Weightlifting Federation for the current state of affairs. “The federation can do little when it comes to providing weightlifting infrastructure across the country. It is only when a player makes it to the national camp that the federation can prepare weightlifters for the future.”

Malleswari, who has started her own weightlifting academy in New Delhi, has high hopes from Mirabai Chanu. “She is an exciting talent and was unlucky to miss out on a medal in the World Championship. But Mirabai will surely do well in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”

The 1994 and 1995 World Championship gold medallist is spoken highly about talented Jeremy Lalrinnunga. “Jeremy has made his World Championship debut at the age of 17 and is a promising lad. I think he has ten to twelve years of weightlifting left in him and should be groomed well for the future. Indian men’s weightlifting can look for great things from him.”

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