Weightlifting
World Weightlifting Championships 2023: N Ajith, Achinta Sheuli look to prove a point
India's male weightlifters N Ajith and Achinta Sheuli, unceremoniously dumped from the Asian Games contingent, will want to prove a point at the World Weightlifting Championships.
N Ajith
With Mirabai Chanu saving herself for the upcoming Asian Games, India's interests in the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships, scheduled to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 4 to 17 September, are on the men's weightlifting side.
Indian women have won a total of 17 medals at the World Weightlifting Championships, including three gold medals. Mirabai Chanu had won the most recent gold medal in 2017.
No Indian male weightlifter has ever won a medal in the history of the Weightlifting Worlds.
Ejected from the Asian Games squad, N. Ajith and Achinta Sheuli will have a point to prove in the World Championships. However, no lifter from the country will be in medal contention, as none of them have entered a starting weight worthy of Group A classification.
Ajith and Sheuli, who compete in the 73kg category, have been assigned Group C and D based on their entry weights. Ajith, the reigning national champion, has logged in an entry weight of 305kg and has been assigned Group C. Sheuli, who has struggled with injuries since his CWG medal last year, has entered an entry weight of just 280kg, which is a far cry from his personal best of 313kg, for a place in Group D.
Why Mirabai Chanu will attend but not compete
Meanwhile, Mirabai Chanu will merely mark her presence by attending the weigh-in at the World Championships, which is a compulsory Paris Olympic qualifier.
Under the 2024 Olympic qualification rule, the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup are compulsory events.
Apart from these two tournaments, a lifter also has to participate in three of the following events -- the 2022 World Championships, the 2023 Continental Championships, the 2023 Grand Prix 1, the 2023 Grand Prix II and the 2024 Continental Championships.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will publish the Olympic Qualification Rating (OQR) of each weight category at the end of the qualification period.
A weightlifter’s best three performances at the qualifying events will be taken into account for final assessment.
Indian team at 2023 World Weightlifting Championships
Women: Mirabai Chanu (49kg), Bindyarani Devi (55kg)
Men: Shubham Todkar (61kg), Achinta Sheuli (73kg), Narayana Ajith (73kg)
