Asian athletes have dominated the women’s 48kg and 49kg weight divisions for 25 years, winning 27 of 30 Olympic medals and holding all World records. And so, the desperation for an Asian Games medal is understandable for India’s Mirabai Chanu.

“I’m feeling so happy… so light. Bilkul weight hat gaya hai [the weight has lifted completely],” she said after the win.

In the Hangzhou Asiad of 2023, Mirabai knew she had tweaked her hip during warm-up, but she gritted her teeth and loaded 117kg on the bar — the second-most she had ever attempted — as she bid for bronze.

However, she collapsed and had to be carried off stage. Previously, she’d fallen short in Incheon 2014 and missed the 2018 Jakarta edition with injury.

When the lightest Olympic weight division moved to 53kg, Mirabai — rather than bulking up for the LA Games after missing out at Paris — kept her weight down to focus on the podium in Nagoya.

“I had to work so hard to preserve myself to maintain my weight but this was so important for me.”

With a silver medal in hand now, she exclaimed, “It feels ki life complete ho gaya (It feels like life is complete),” she said.

While World and Olympic medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu is treading cautiously in search of an elusive Asian Games medal, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Chanambam Rishikanta Singh has been ruled out due to a recurring knee injury.

With no Chinese lifter in the fray in the women’s 49kg category, Mirabai — who won her third consecutive Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow with an aggregate of 190kg — has her best chance to open her account in the continental extravaganza.

Mirabai missed the 2018 Asian Games due to a back issue and was injured on the competition platform during the next edition in 2023.

According to chief coach Vijay Sharma, seasoned North Korean Ri Song Gum, Thailand’s Kaeosingkhon Suthasini and Taiwan’s Fang Wan-ling will be Mirabai’s main competitors. Since Ri is a notch above the rest, the 32-year-old Mirabai needs to beat the other two in a field of eight to break the jinx.

“Anything around a 200kg total would get us a medal. A medal is our target, not the total,” Sharma told The Hindu.

Mirabai promptly resumed training after winning gold in Glasgow in July. “She needed to train as she was troubled by shoulder and wrist injuries after the National championships in February. Now, we are not overloading her and playing it safe. The focus is on her fitness,” said Sharma.

The coach added that the three other women lifters in the Indian squad — Gyaneshwari Yadav (53kg), Nirupama Devi (61kg) and Harjinder Kaur (69kg) — would try to achieve their personal bests.

Rishikanta (60kg), the lone male weightlifter in the Indian squad, will not compete in Japan. “He has been carrying the injury for some time. He managed to claim the Commonwealth Games silver despite the injury. But he will not be able to take part in the Asian Games,” said Sharma.

Olympic and World championships medallist Mirabai Chanu need not push herself to claim her third consecutive gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, said National chief coach Vijay Sharma.

Mirabai totalled 205kg at the National championships at Modinagar in February before pulling out of the Asian championships at Gandhinagar in May due to a shoulder injury.

The soon-to-be 32-year-old will be eyeing her fourth CWG medal of any colour in a row in Glasgow while trying to stay injury-free.

Since an Asian Games medal has eluded Mirabai, the continental Games in Aichi-Nagoya, from September 19 to October 4, would be her priority. Sharma said it would not be prudent to push her in the women’s 48kg competition in Glasgow.

“For Mira, the CWG will be like a practice event before the Asian Games. A total of 190-195kg should be enough for her to win the CWG gold medal. Irrespective of the total, a gold is a gold. Her main target is medalling at the Asian Games,” Sharma told The Hindu.

Mirabai had won the Commonwealth championships title in Ahmedabad by a margin of 32kg after aggregating 193kg.

Apart from Mirabai, V. Ajaya Babu (79kg) will be in the race for a gold medal. M. Raja (65kg) has an outside chance of finishing on top of the podium.

Following four positive dope tests, including that of gold medal prospect N. Ajith (71kg), which led to a reduction in the country’s quota places, it will be challenging for the Indian weightlifting squad to replicate its 10-medal performance of the Birmingham Games four years ago.

The 12-member Indian weightlifting team trained at Wolverhampton University in Birmingham for more than three weeks before moving to Glasgow.