National Weightlifting Championships: Jeremy wins gold and gets national record

Jeremy Lalrinnunga, the 17-year-old Youth Olympic gold medal winner was well below-par but still managed to clinch the National Weightlifting Championships gold after bettering his national record. The teenager from Aizawl, lifted 132 kg after two unsuccessful attempts in his 67 kg weight division in the event in Kolkata before he grabbed 167 kg in the clean and jerk event to pick up a total of 299 kg.

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Though it was the national best, the lift still falls well below his personal best of 306 kg that had been lifted at the International Qatar Cup in December in 2019.

In the women's event, it was Jhili Dalabehera who claimed the title in the 45 kg event, as she shrugged off the poor show that she had pitched in with in 2019, to lift a total of 160 kg, winning the gold by one kg. M.V Thusmita bagged silver.

Last year, Jhili, a junior World Bronze medal winner, had crashed out with three "no lifts" in the competition that was held in Visakhapatnam. On Monday, she could not lift 93 kg in her final attempt, while Thusmita tasted success in the same weight. However, it was the former who walked away with the title.

Other results

Shubham Kolekar of Maharashtra got the better of Gururaja from Services to win the 61 kg crown in the men's category. Though Gururaja was high on confidence after bettering his national record of 118 kg in snatch in his second attempt by a kilo, the Maharashtra lifter got the lead with a record lift of 157 kg and new total of 272 kg. Earlier, both had managed 152 kg in the second clean and jerk lift.

Sanket Sargar, the Khelo India winner, improved on his performance by four kilos to win the gold in the men's 55 kg category with a record lift of 243 kg.

Men: 55kg: 1. Sanket Sargar (Mah) snatch 108kg [NR, Old 106kg, R. Madhavan], clean and jerk 135kg [NR, Old 134kg, Shubham Todkar], total 243kg [NR, Old 241kg, A.Gunasekar]; 2. A. Gunasekar (RSPB) 106kg, 135kg, 241kg; 3. Ch. Rishikanta Singh (Mani) 106kg, 133kg, 239kg.

61kg: 1. Shubham Kolekar (Mah) 115kg, 157kg [NR, Old 152kg, Gururaja], 272kg [NR, Old 271kg, Gururaja]; 2. Gururaja (SSCB) 119kg [NR, Old 188kg, Gururaja], 152kg, 271kg; 3. Ramkumar S. (RSPB) 113kg, 143kg, 256kg.

67kg: 1. Jeremy Lalrinnunga (Miz) 132kg, 167kg [NR, Old 166kg, Jeremy], 299kg; 2. Apurba Chetia (Asm) 125kg, 147kg, 272kg; 3. Gurjeet Kumar (SSCB) 120kg, 151kg, 271kg.

Women:

45kg: 1. Jhili Dalabehera (RSPB) 69kg, 91kg, 160kg; 2. M.V. Thushmita (RSPB) 66kg, 93kg, 159kg; 3. H. Jinarani Devi (Mani) 66kg, 91kg, 157kg.