Bindyarani Devi Sorokhaibam was the only Indian athlete to finish on the podium as India came away with a solitary silver medal at the 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championships. Jeremy Lalrinnunga won silver in the men’s 67kg snatch even but failed to register a mark in the clean and jerk event.
In the women’s 55kg event, 24-year-old Bindyarani finished the competition with a total of 194kgs (83kgs in snatch and 111kgs in clean and jerk), second only to Chinese Taipei’s Chen Guan-ling’s 204 kg effort.
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu finished sixth overall in the 49kg event with a total of 194kgs. Chanu, who has been targeting 90kg in the snatch category, registered a successful lift of 85kg while being unable to lift 88kgs with her last two attempts. She then lifted 109kgs with her first attempt in the clean and jerk category to register a total but did not come out for her remaining attempts.
“Mira only has to participate here. We will take it easy,” head coach Vijay Sharma had told PTI before the event. “She will just participate and lift 85kg (snatch)...110kg (clean and jerk), totals that she can easily get.”
In the men’s 61kg event, Shubham Todkar finished 10th with a total of 263kgs (116kgs in snatch and 147kgs in clean and jerk).
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Achinta Sheuli finished 10th behind compatriot Ajith Narayana in the men’s 73kg event. Narayana lifted 307kgs (139kgs in snatch and 168kgs in clean and jerk) while Sheuli lifted 305kgs (140kgs in snatch and 165kgs in clean and jerk).
