Mirabai Chanu finishes sixth at Asian Championships, manages only two good lifts

Mirabai Chanu (Pic: AFP)

Star Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu was not at her usual best on Friday after she faltered in snatch and chose not to make her last two clean-and-jerk attempts to finish fifth at the Asian Championships. The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, competing in the 49kg category, managed to lift 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk for an overall effort of 194kg, a whopping 13kg less than her personal best of 207kg.

Chanu kicked off her snatch attempts with an 85kg lift, which she executed perfectly, and went on to set a weight of 88kg as she attempted to match her personal best. However, she failed to heave the barbell in her next two attempts and had to be content with an 85kg total in snatch. Four lifters had better snatch results than Chanu, all lifting 90kg or above.

While Chanu herself has been trying to breach the 90kg mark in the snatch for three years, head coach Vijay Sharma had told PTI that the former world champion was unlikely to attempt the coveted lift here. The last time Chanu competed at the Asian Championships in 2021, she returned home with a bronze medal and a world record in clean and jerk (119kg). However this time, she only attempted a 109kg lift before deciding not to go for her final two attempts, the reason for which is not known yet.

Also Read: Indian lifters aim at improving Olympic qualification ranking at Asian Championships

Sharma has said several times earlier that the aim is to peak at the Asian Games which is set to happen later this year. A medal at the multi-sport event is the only one missing from Chanu's trophy cabinet.

It is noteworthy that the ongoing championship is one of the qualifying events for the 2024 Paris Olympics, where weightlifting events will be cut from 14 at the Tokyo Games to 10. However, it is an additional event and not a compulsory one. Under the 2024 Olympic qualification rule, a lifter has to compulsorily compete in the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup, besides having participated 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.

(With PTI inputs)