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Fit-Again Mirabai Chanu Eyes 90kg Plus Snatch Lift In Paris Olympics

admin — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 14:45:51 +0000

Tokyo Olympics silver medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who is taking it easy since returning to action following a six-month injury lay-off, is targeting a lift of above 90kg in snatch in next month’s Paris Games. Chanu, who suffered hip tendonitis and finished fourth in the 49kg women’s category in the last Asian Games, returned to competition with a lift of 184 kgs (81kg snatch and 103kg clean and jerk) at the Phuket World Cup in April this year. She knows that anything less than a 200kg total lift (snatch clean and jerk) won’t be enough to win a medal in Paris and she is working towards that with her long-time coach Vijay Kumar Sharma.

“The injury is fine, I have completely recovered from that but I am going slowly in training. In training now I am lifting 80-85 per cent in repetitions, I am not lifting 100 per cent till the Olympics.

“88kg in snatch and 119kg in clean and jerk are my best, but my target is 90kg plus in snatch in Paris, and I will try my best,” Chanu said during a virtual interaction facilitated by Sports Authority of India (SAI).

“Right now, I am going gradually and lifting 70-80kgs in training but my target is 90kg plus and better clean jerk lift but I can’t say a specific target. I will do what it takes and try to give my best performance to win a medal, but I can’t predict the colour of the medal.” Chanu said the injury phase was a great learning experience for her.

“I learnt a lot after the injury. I learnt how to keep myself safe because injuries can happen anytime. We need to follow instructions of coaches, adopt right techniques, rest and exercise properly, and how to build your muscles,” she said.

“I understand my body. Injuries can happen anytime and these are difficult phases but we need to motivate ourselves and keep believing in ourselves.” The star Indian weightlifter said self doubts, which creep up post injury, can make things more difficult for an athlete.

“Problems did happen but I am happy that I made a comeback. It was difficult, there is always self doubt when recovery will happen, how to recover soon and stuffs like these. All these questions came up in mind because I was counting days as the Olympics was near.

“But I didn’t give up and believed in myself, worked according to my coaches and physio and recovered fully,” Chanu said.

She is not shying away from the fact that there will be pressure on her in Paris.

“Pressure is there because in Tokyo, on the first day I got a medal for India. I will try to give my best performance and win a medal for the country in Paris.” Chanu is currently training in NNIS, Patiala and will be leaving for Paris on July 7 for a training stint.

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Mirabai Chanu Finishes 3rd In Group B Of World Cup, Set To Qualify For Paris Olympics

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 15:16:50 +0000

Tokyo Olympics silver-medallist Mirabai Chanu all but qualified for the 2024 Paris Games after she finished third in the women’s 49kg Group B event of the IWF World Cup on Monday. Returning from a six-month injury lay off, Chanu lifted a total of 184kg (81kg+103kg) at the tournament, which is the final and a mandatory qualifier for the Paris Olympics. “It feels incredible to come back after an injury. Almost every lift I made today felt clean, clear, and powerful, and I’m leaving this competition feeling strong and confident,” Chanu said.

“The rehabilitation was tough and demanding, but with the support of everyone involved in my rehab and recovery, I pushed through all the complications.” With the completion of her event, Chanu has fulfilled the criteria for the Paris Olympics, which is participating in two compulsory events and three other qualifiers.

The 2017 world champion is currently ranked second in the women’s 49kg Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) behind China’s Jian HuiHua.

The qualification period for weightlifting will end on April 28, following which the IWF will notify the NOCs which have athlete(s) ranked in the top 10.

The top 10 lifters from each weight class will qualify for the Paris Olympics.

“The goal was to secure my spot for the Paris Olympics, and now that I am almost through for the Paris Olympics, all my attention is on making a mark at the Paris Olympics,” she added.

Chanu, who last competed at the Asian Games in September where she suffered a hip tendonitis injury, was not at her best, but was able to make five clean lifts.

Her final clean and jerk attempt of 106kg was deemed a no lift on technicality.

“Today’s event was to assess how Mira’s body is progressing given she is returning after six months of injury and rehabilitation. And more importantly to get her confidence back,” chief coach Vijay Sharma told PTI.

“We were not bothered about the qualification, she has already qualified. Now we will focus on peaking at the right time in Paris,” he added.

Chanu’s lifts in the snatch and clean and jerk sections were nowhere close to her personal best efforts.

The 29-year-old has a personal best of 88kg in snatch while she had lifted the then world record of 119kg in clean and jerk at the Asian Championships in 2021.

But given that she is coming off an injury and rehab, Chanu still has time to peak in July and her progress looks good.

She will have a lot of ground to cover up as her opponents had total efforts of up to 221kg in the A category on Monday.

Chanu will be the lone Indian weightlifter at the Paris Games, which will be her third appearance at the Olympics.

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Mirabai Chanu To Undergo Tests On October 3 To Find Out Extent Of Thigh Injury

admin — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 17:13:23 +0000

Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu will undergo tests on October 3 in Mumbai to find out the severity of the thigh injury she suffered at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. Despite feeling some pain in her thigh during the warm-ups, Chanu went ahead with her six attempts in the women’s 49kg competition at the continental showpiece, which led to injury on Saturday. Chanu, who will fly back to India on Sunday, will be undergoing tests at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute in Mumbai. “We have to wait and find out the extent of her injury. She can’t put down her foot as of now. Tomorrow we will have some idea depending on if she is able to walk,” head coach Vijay Sharma told PTI over the phone from Hangzhou.

“We are trying to do all the the tests on Monday but since it’s 2nd October lets see if it is possible. Otherwise it will happen on Tuesday. We have spoken to a reputed doctor in Mumbai and booked appointment for October 4,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the 2017 world champion had managed to lift the 117kg bar which rested on her collarbone, ready to be jerked, but the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist’s hip gave up and she crumbled on the floor.

Lying on her back in agony, Sharma had to lift Chanu and carry her away from the platform in his arms. Had the two-time Commonwealth Games champion succeeded in lifting 117kg, she would have won the bronze medal.

After winning medals at the Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships, an Asian Games medal was the only silverware left to adorn the 29-year-old’s illustrious trophy cabinet.

“After snatch I asked her to pull out but she insisted on going through. She is mentally very tough and insisted that she’ll mange the lift and stand on the podium,” Sharma said.

Immediately after failing to clear her first 86kg snatch attempt, a grimace had spread on the former world champion’s face. But she persisted.

Sharma said had everything worked out, Chanu would have logged the much-anticipated 90kg lift in snatch.

“Mira (Chanu) has been lifting 90kg in training for the past 2-3 months. She lifted that in the selection trials as well.

“It’s unfortunate, Mira was oncourse for a medal. She was fit also. It’s all God’s doing. Last year she was at peak fitness and looked strong but the Asian Games were postponed by a year due to COVID,” Sharma said.

At the Asian Championships in May, a dodgy hip had forced her to skip the last two attempts, dashing her hopes of a medal.

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Weightlifting: Mirabai Chanu’s Asian Games Campaign Ends In Heartbreak, Finishes 4th

admin — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 09:21:39 +0000

File image of Mirabai Chanu© Twitter

Ace Indian lifter Mirabai Chanu’s Asian Games campaign ended in heartbreak as the Olympic medallist fell on her back to injure herself, finishing fourth in the women’s 49kg event in Hangzhou on Saturday. Chanu, who was under pressure after a disappointing snatch outing, went for a 117kg clean and jerk lift which would have won her the bronze, but failed to clear it twice. In in her final attempt she fell flat on her back and had to be lifted off the stage. She left the weighting arena limping.

In the snatch section, she could only lift 83kg and failed twice in her attempt for 86kg. In the last snatch, she failed to rise from a squat position and fell forward while the bar fell at her back.

Six lifters logged a better snatch than her.

Indian women’s campaign end with consolation win over Nepal in Handball

The Indian women’s handball team ended its campaign on a positive note after beating lower-ranked Nepal in their last match at the Asian Games on Saturday. India finished at the fifth spot.

India dished out a clinical performance to outwit Nepal 44-19 in a Group B match at the Zhejiang Normal University Xiaoshan Gymnasium.

India’s Nidhi Sharma scored maximum 11 goals with an impressive strike rate of 84.61, helping her side to a comfortable victory.

However, India are already out of medal contention after losing their two group stage matches. They had lost to 2018 silver medallist Japan and Jakarta bronze medallist China, while one match ended up in a draw against Hong Kong.

In the last edition, India finished at the ninth spot.

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Asian Games 2023 September 30 Live Updates: India Face China In Shooting Gold Match; Mirabai Chanu’s Weightlifting Event On

admin — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 00:27:44 +0000

Asian Games 2023 Live: here’s India’s full schedule for today!

3×3 BASKETBALL

10:55 AM: Men’s qualification to quarterfinals – India vs Iran

1:00 PM: Women’s qualification to quarterfinals – India vs Malaysia

(3:30 PM onwards quarterfinals, subject to qualification)

ATHLETICS

6:35 AM onwards: Men’s Long Jump Qualifying Groups A and B – Murali Sreeshankar & Jeswin Aldrin

6:38 AM onwards: Women’s Heptathlon 100m Hurdles- Swapna Barman & Nandini Agasara

6:45 AM onwards: Women’s 100m Hurdles Heats (1 & 2) – Jyothi Yarraji, Nithya Ramraj

7:05 AM onwards: Men’s 1500m Round 1 Heats – Ajay Kumar Saroj & Jinson Johnson

7:20 AM onwards: Women’s Heptathlon High Jump- Swapna Barman & Nandini Agasara

4:40 PM onwards: Women’s Heptathlon Shot Put- Swapna Barman & Nandini Agasara

5:30 PM onwards: Women’s 400m Final – Aishwarya Kailash Mishra

5:40 PM onwards: Men’s 400m Final – Muhammed Ajmal

5:50 PM onwards Men’s 10,000m Final – Karthik Kumar, Gulveer Singh

6:35 PM onwards: Women’s Heptathlon 200m – Swapna Barman & Nandini Agasara

BADMINTON

2:30 PM onwards: Men’s Team Semifinal- India vs South Korea

BOXING

11:30 AM onwards: Women’s 54kg Quarterfinals – Preeti (IND) vs Zhaina Shekerbekova (KAZ)

12:15 PM onwards: Women’s 75kg Quarterfinals – Lovlina Borgohain (IND) vs Suyeon Seong (KOR)

1:00 PM onwards: Men’s 57kg Round of 16 – Sachin Siwach (IND) vs Abuquthailah Turki (KUW)

2:15 PM onwards: Men’s +92kg Quarterfinals – Narender (IND) vs Ramezanpourdelavar Iman (IRI) – 2:15 PM

6:30 PM onwards: Men’s 71kg Quarterfinals – Nishant Dev (IND) vs Okazawa Sewonrets Quincy Mensah (JAP)

BRIDGE

6:30 AM onwards

Men’s Team Round Robin 2-1

Women’s Team Round Robin 2-1

Mixed Team Round Robin 2-1

11:00 AM onwards

Men’s Team Round Robin 2-2

Women’s Team Round Robin 2-2

Mixed Team Round Robin 2-2

1:30 PM onwards

Men’s Team Round Robin 2-3

Women’s Team Round Robin 2-3

Mixed Team Round Robin 2-3

4:00 PM onwards

Men’s Team Round Robin 2-4

Mixed Team Round Robin 2-4

KAYAKING & CANOEING

7:20 AM onwards: Niraj Verma – Men’s Canoe Singles 1000m – Heat 1

(Semifinals at 12:45 PM)

7:45 AM onwards: Team India – Women’s Kayak Double 500m – Heat 2

(Semifinals at 1:00 PM)

8:15 AM onwards: Team India – Men’s Canoe Double 500m – Heat 1

(Semifinals at 1:15 PM)

CHESS

12:30 PM onwards

Men’s Team Round 2

Women’s Team Round 2

DIVING

3:00 PM: Men’s Synchronised 3m Springboard Final – London Singh Hemam & Siddharth Bajrang Pardeshi

EQUESTRIAN

05:30 AM: Eventing Dressage Team & Individual

GOLF

4:00 AM onwards

Women’s Individual Round 3 – Pranavi Sharath Urs, Avani Prashanth, Aditi Ashok

Women’s Team Round 3 – Pranavi Sharath Urs, Avani Prashanth, Aditi Ashok

Men’s Individual Round 3 – Anirban Lahiri, Shubhankar Sharma, SSP Chawrasia, Khalin Josh

Men’s Team Round 3 – Anirban Lahiri, Shubhankar Sharma, SSP Chawrasia, Khalin Josh

HANDBALL

11:30 AM: Women’s Preliminary Round Group B – IND vs NEP

HOCKEY

4:00 PM: Preliminary Men’s Pool A – IND vs PAK

KURASH

6:00 AM onwards:

Women’s 52kg – Preliminary & Elimination – Pincky Balhara & Suchika Tariyal

Men’s 66Kg Preliminary & Elimination – Keshav

(Semifinals and finals at 11:30 AM)

ROLLER SKATING

6:30 AM: Women’s speed skating 10000m point-elimination race final – Heeral Sadhu, Aarthy Kasturi Raj

7:05 AM: Men’s speed skating 10000m point-elimination race final – Anandkumar Velkumar, Siddhant Rahul Kamble

SHOOTING

06:30 AM onwards:

10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Qualification – Sarabjot Singh & Divya T S

Men’s Trap-75 Shots – Individual & Team – Qualification (Stage 1) – Prithviraj Tondaiman, Kynan Chenai, Zoravar Singh Sandhu

Women’s Trap-75 Shots – Individual & Team – Qualification (Stage 1) – Manisha Keer, Preeti Rajak, Rajeshwari Kumari

(Medal Events subject to qualification)

9:05 AM: 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Final

SQUASH

1:00 PM onwards: Men’s Team Final – IND vs PAK

TABLE TENNIS

10:15 AM: Men’s Doubles Quarterfinals: Manush Shah/ Manav Thakkar

11:00 AM: Women’s Singles Quarterfinals- Manika Batra

4:00 PM: Women’s Doubles Quarterfinals: Sutirtha Mukherjee/ Ayhika Mukherjee

TENNIS

Not before 10:30 AM: Mixed Doubles Final – Rutuja Bhosale/ Rohan Bopanna

VOLLEYBALL

8:00 AM: Women’s preliminary round Pool A: India vs DPR Korea

WEIGHTLIFTING

6:30 AM: Women’s 49 KG Group B – Mirabai Chanu onwards

(final group starts at 12:30 PM)

6:30 AM: Women’s 55kg Group B – Bindyarani Devi

(final group starts at 4:30 PM)

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Asian Games 2023 September 30 Schedule: Indians In Action, Events And Timing

admin — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 17:48:37 +0000

India’s stars like weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, boxer Lovlina Borgohain, mixed doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale will be in action on September 30 at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou. It won’t be a medal match but an India vs Pakistan contest is always among the big games, the two teams will be facing each other in a Pool A match in men’s hockey on Saturday. Meanwhile, athletes like huddler Jyothi Yarraji, long jumpers Murali Sreeshankar and Jeswin Aldrin will also be in action during the qualifying events.

(Asian Games 2023 Medals Tally | Asian Games 2023 Full Schedule)

Asian Games 2023 September 30 (Saturday) Full Schedule:

3×3 basketball

Men’s qualification to quarter-finals: India vs Iran – 10:55 AM
Women’s qualification to quarter-finals: India vs Malaysia – 1:00 PM
Men’s quarter-finals (if qualified) – 3:30 PM onwards
Women’s quarter-finals (if qualified) – 3:30 PM onwards

Athletics

Women’s heptathlon events (Swapna Barman, Nandini Agasara) – 6:30 AM onwards
Men’s long jump qualifying Groups A and B (Murali Sreeshankar, Jeswin Aldrin) – 6:35 AM
Women’s 100m hurdles heats (Jyothi Yarraji, Nithya Ramraj) – 6:30 AM
Men’s 1500m round 1 heats (Ajay Kumar Saroj, Jinson Johnson) – 7:05 AM
Women’s 400m final (Aishwarya Kailash Mishra) – 5:30 PM
Men’s 400m final (Muhammed Ajmal) – 5:40 PM
Men’s 10,000m final (Karthik Kumar, Gulveer Singh) – 5:50 PM

Badminton

Men’s team semi-finals (HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen, Mithun Manjunath, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, Dhruv Kapila/MR Arjun): India vs the Republic of Korea – 2:30 PM onwards

Boxing

Women’s 54kg quarter-finals: Preeti (IND) vs Zhaina Shekerbekova (KAZ) – 11:30 AM
Women’s 75kg quarter-finals: Lovlina Borgohain (IND) vs Suyeon Seong (KOR) – 12:15 PM
Men’s 57kg round of 16: Sachin Siwach (IND) vs Abuquthailah Turki (KUW) – 1:00 PM
Men’s +92kg quarter-final: Narender (IND) vs Ramezanpourdelavar Iman (IRI) – 2:15 PM
Men’s 71kg quarter-finals: Nishant Dev (IND) vs Okazawa Sewonrets Quincy Mensah (JAP) – 6:30 PM

Bridge

Men’s, women’s and mixed team round robin 2 (Indian teams) – 6:30 AM onwards

Canoeing

Multiple sprint races heats and semi-finals (multiple athletes) – 7:00 AM onwards

Chess

Men’s team round 2 (Gukesh D, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa) – 12:30 PM onwards
Women’s team round 2 (Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Vantika Agrawal, Savitha Shri B) – 12:30 PM onwards

Diving

Men’s synchronised 3m springboard final (London Singh Hemam, Siddharth Bajrang Pardeshi) – 5:00 PM

Equestrian

Eventing team and individual (Apurva Kishor Dabhade, Vikas Kumar, Ashish Vivek Limaye) – 5:30 AM onwards

Golf

Men’s individual and team round 3 (Anirban Lahiri, Shubhankar Sharma, SSP Chawrasia, Khalin Joshi) – 4:00 AM onwards
Women’s individual and team round 3 (Aditi Ashok, Avani Prashanth, Pranavi Urs) – 4:00 AM onwards

Handball

Women’s preliminary round Group B: India vs Nepal – 11:30 AM

Hockey

Preliminary men’s Pool A: India vs Pakistan – 6:15 PM

Kurash

Medal event: Men’s -66kg (Keshav) – 7:00 AM onwards (medal rounds start from 11:30 AM)
Medal event: Women’s -52kg (Pincky Balhara, Suchika Tariyal) – 7:00 AM onwards (medal rounds start from 11:30 AM)

Roller skating

Medal event: Women’s speed skating 10000m point-elimination race final (Heeral Sadhu, Aarthy Kasturi Raj) – 6:30 AM
Medal event: Men’s speed skating 10000m point-elimination race final (Anandkumar Velkumar, Siddhant Rahul Kamble) – 7:05 AM

Shooting

Medal event: 10m air pistol mixed team qualification round and medal matches (Divya TS, Sarabjot Singh) – 6:30 AM onwards
Men’s trap qualification individual and team phase 1 (Kynan Chenai, Prithviraj Toindaman, Zoravar Singh Sandhu) – 6:30 AM onwards
Women’s trap qualification individual and team phase 1 (Rajeshwari Kumari, Manisha Keer, Preeti Rajak) – 6:30 AM onwards

Squash

Men’s team gold medal match: India vs Pakistan – 1:00 PM

Table tennis

Men’s doubles quarter-finals (Manush Shah/Manav Thakkar) – 9:30 AM onwards
Women’s singles quarter-finals (Manika Batra) – 9:30 AM onwards
Women’s doubles quarter-finals (Sreeja Akula/Diya Chitale and Sutirtha/Ayhika Mukherjee) – 1:30 PM onwards

Tennis

Mixed doubles semi-finals: Rohan Bopanna/Rutuja Bhosale (IND) vs En-shuo Liang/Tsung-hao Huang (TPE) – after 9:30 AM

Volleyball

Women’s preliminary round Pool A: India vs DPR Korea – 8:00 AM

Weightlifting

Women’s 49kg (Mirabai Chanu) – 6:30 AM onwards (final group starts at 12:30 PM)
Women’s 55kg (Bindyarani Devi) – 6:30 AM onwards (final group starts at 4:30 PM)

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Clock ticking As 90kg Snatch Lift Continues To Elude Mirabai Chanu

admin — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 17:08:33 +0000

Mirabai Chanu has been a frontrunner in the women’s 49kg category for years but with an increasing number of weightlifters breaching the elusive 90kg mark, the pressure is mounting on the Tokyo Olympics medallist to nail the coveted lift. As many as seven athletes, including five in this current Olympic cycle, have lifted 90kg or more in the snatch section, Chanu herself has been working to cross the mark since 2019. However, the much-anticipated 90kg snatch lift has eluded her in her two attempts in the past four years.

The Manipuri athlete had first attempted it at the National Championships in February 2020 and then again at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Chanu’s personal best in the section remains an underwhelming 88kg and the gulf between with her competitors is increasing every tournament.

The Chinese duo of Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Hou Zhihui and two-time world champion Jiang Huihua has been consistently lifting in excess of 90kg at tournaments.

The return of Thai weightlifters after severing a two-year suspension has made the field more competitive with both Thanyathon Sukcharoen and Surodchana Khambao lifting 90kg at the Asian Championships in May this year.

European champion Mihaela Valentina Cambei (92kg) of Romania and North Korea’s Ri Song Gum (91kg) are the other athletes to have snatched more than 90kg.

The Asian Games, starting in Hangzhou, China on September 23, will be the perfect opportunity for the star Indian lifter to successfully hoist 90kg or more.

“We are aiming to cross the 90kg mark (in snatch) at the Asian Games. It’s been a while since we have been trying to get over that line,” India head coach Vijay Sharma told PTI.

Chanu is at par with her opponents in the clean and jerk section, although her world record lift of 119kg in the section was broken by Huihua, who lifted 120kg at the World Championships this month.

But her snatch performances have been found wanting and often brought down her total weight.

The former world champion has prioritised the Asian Games this year as a medal in the continental event is the only silverware missing from her decorated trophy cabinet.

With two athletes each from weightlifting powerhouses like China and Thailand competing at the Asiad, Chanu will have to elevate her game to stand on the podium in Hangzhou.

Chanu had confessed that the 90kg lift had become somewhat of a mental block last year, ahead of the CWG.

“To reach 96kg, it will take some time and it will be a little difficult for me. But I can reach 93-94kg,” she said.

Additionally, crossing the 90kg mark will also be a huge confidence booster for the 29-year-old ahead of next year’s Paris Olympics.

But lifting close to twice your body weight is easier said than done, especially for Chanu, who struggles with a shoulder imbalance issue that affects her snatch.

Zhihui holds the snatch world record — 96kg — in the lightest women’s Olympic category, which is 8kg more than Chanu’s personal best.

“We have to keep in mind Mira’s body as well. She is aging, and the chances of injuries increase with age. So we have to be careful with the workload,” Sharma said.

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Asian Games 2023: Clock Ticking As 90kg Snatch Lift Continues To Elude Mirabai Chanu

admin — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 08:21:20 +0000

Mirabai Chanu has been a frontrunner in the women’s 49kg category for years but with an increasing number of weightlifters breaching the elusive 90kg mark, the pressure is mounting on the Tokyo Olympics medallist to nail the coveted lift. As many as seven athletes, including five in this current Olympic cycle, have lifted 90kg or more in the snatch section. Chanu herself has been working to cross the mark since 2019. However, the much-anticipated 90kg snatch lift has eluded her in her two attempts in the past four years.

The Manipuri athlete had first attempted it at the National Championships in February 2020 and then again at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Chanu’s personal best in the section remains an underwhelming 88kg and the gulf between with her competitors is increasing every tournament.

The Chinese duo of Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Hou Zhihui and two-time world champion Jiang Huihua has been consistently lifting in excess of 90kg at tournaments.

The return of Thai weightlifters after severing a two-year suspension has made the field more competitive with both Thanyathon Sukcharoen and Surodchana Khambao lifting 90kg at the Asian Championships in May this year.

European champion Mihaela Valentina Cambei (92kg) of Romania and North Korea’s Ri Song Gum (91kg) are the other athletes to have snatched more than 90kg.

The Asian Games, starting in Hangzhou, China on September 23, will be the perfect opportunity for the star Indian lifter to successfully hoist 90kg or more.

“We are aiming to cross the 90kg mark (in snatch) at the Asian Games. It’s been a while since we have been trying to get over that line,” India head coach Vijay Sharma told PTI.

Chanu is at par with her opponents in the clean and jerk section, although her world record lift of 119kg in the section was broken by Huihua, who lifted 120kg at the World Championships this month.

But her snatch performances have been found wanting and often brought down her total weight.

The former world champion has prioritised the Asian Games this year as a medal in the continental event is the only silverware missing from her decorated trophy cabinet.

With two athletes each from weightlifting powerhouses like China and Thailand competing at the Asiad, Chanu will have to elevate her game to stand on the podium in Hangzhou.

Chanu had confessed that the 90kg lift had become somewhat of a mental block last year, ahead of the CWG.

“To reach 96kg, it will take some time and it will be a little difficult for me. But I can reach 93-94kg,” she said.

Additionally, crossing the 90kg mark will also be a huge confidence booster for the 29-year-old ahead of next year’s Paris Olympics.

But lifting close to twice your body weight is easier said than done, especially for Chanu, who struggles with a shoulder imbalance issue that affects her snatch.

Zhihui holds the snatch world record — 96kg — in the lightest women’s Olympic category, which is 8kg more than Chanu’s personal best.

“We have to keep in mind Mira’s body as well. She is aging, and the chances of injuries increase with age. So we have to be careful with the workload,” Sharma said.

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Asiad Medal On Her Mind, Mirabai Chanu Decides To Not Lift At World Championships; Will Just Attend Weigh-In

admin — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 08:29:50 +0000

With her sights firmly set on an elusive Asian Games medal, Mirabai Chanu will only mark her attendance by completing the necessary formalities and not lift any weight at next week’s World Championships, which is a compulsory qualifying event for the Paris Olympics. The World Championships, are scheduled from September 4 in Riyadh, while the Asian Games begin less than 20 days later in Hangzhou, China on September 23. The short time between the two events makes it difficult for lifters to manage their weight and peak at both the events.

“There is very less time between the Asian Games and the World Championships. Since there is compulsory participation at the World Championships, we have decided that Mirabai only travel to Riyadh and give the body weight.

“She will complete all the mandatory protocols like give the dope test, if required. But she will not lift any weight. She is only going there to participate,” head coach Vijay Sharma told PTI.

The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, who competes in the 49kg weight class, has registered an entry weight of a mere 60kg at the World Championships. Based on that she has been placed in Group D of the competition. The lifters who register the highest entry weight are placed in group A, followed by B and so on.

Having won the World Championships in 2017 ideally, Chanu would have skipped the event but under the 2024 Olympic qualification rule, a lifter has to compulsorily compete in the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup.

On the other hand, an Asian Games medal is the only silverware missing from Chanu’s cabinet and the Manipuri has time and again insisted that she wants to win that elusive medallion in this edition of the Games.

Winning a medal at the Asian Games will, however, not be an easy affair as weightlifting powerhouses like China, Korea and Thailand will compete at the continental event.

“We are aiming to cross the 90kg mark (in snatch) at the Asian Games. It’s been a while since we have been trying to get over that line. We have been focusing on Mira’s snatch here in training,” Sharma said.

While Chanu leads the field in clean and jerk, her snatch performances have been underwhelming. The two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist has a personal best of 88kg in snatch and 119kg in clean and jerk, which is also the world record.

Five lifters have lifted 90kg or more in the snatch section in the current Olympic cycle, while the world record stands at 96kg.

At the Asian Championships in May, the last tournament Chanu competed in, the star Indian lifter had to withdraw from the competition due to a dodgy hip.

The 29-year-old is currently training in St Louis, USA under Dr Aaron Horschig, whom she has been consulting since 2020.

“We have to keep in mind Mira’s body as well. She is ageing, the chances of injuries increase with age. So we have to be careful with the workload.

“Currently, her body is well. Small niggles here and there keep happening but nothing serious,” Sharma said.

Apart from this year’s Worlds and 2024 World Cup, 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 Ranking (OQR) of each weight category at the end of the qualification period.

The best three performances at the qualifying events will be taken into account for final assessment.

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