Weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu bounced back from a prolonged back injury in style as she claimed gold at the EGAT Cup in Thailand on Thursday. This was her first international competition since winning the gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast.

The 24-year-old lifted a total of 192 kg – Snatch 82 Kgs, Clean & Jerk 110 Kgs – to finish on top of the podium in women’s 49kg division.

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna winner had to miss nine months of competition due to her serious back injury, forcing her to sit out of the Asian Games in August and World Championship in November.

The event in Thailand is part of the qualification process for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the former world champion had to take part in this to keep her qualification hopes on track.

According to a report by ESPN, weightlifters have to compete in at least one Silver Level tournament (World and Asian Championships are gold level) and the EGAT’s Cup is the only Silver Level tournament remaining an Indian can take part in this year which made it mandatory for Chanu to make her comeback.

Under the norms of the International Weightlifting Federation, Olympics qualification is based on of ranking points earned from competitions held between three periods – November 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019; May 1, 2019 to October 31, 2019; November 1, 2019 to April 30 2020.

You can watch the full event here:

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