Jhilli Dalabehera claims gold at Asian Weightlifting Championship

Jhilli, a junior world championship bronze medallist, lifted 69kg in the snatch and followed that up by 88kg in clean jerk for a total of 157kg to finish on top of the podium in all three categories of the gold level Olympic qualifier event which was postponed last year due to the pandemic.

India's Jhilli Dalabehera clinched the gold medal in the 45kg category in a severely depleted two-lifter field at the Asian Weightlifting Championship here on Sunday. Jhilli, a junior world championship bronze medallist, lifted 69kg in the snatch and followed that up by 88kg in clean jerk for a total of 157kg to finish on top of the podium in all three categories of the gold level Olympic qualifier event which was postponed last year due to the pandemic.

However, 45kg is not a Olympic weight category. The silver medal went to Philippines' Mary Flor Diaz for her effort of 135kg (60kg+75kg). With the win, Jhilli bettered her silver-winning performance in the last edition. However, it was an underwhelming performance as she had lifted 162kg (71kg+91kg) at the same event in 2019. The other Indian in the fray, Sneha Soren finished third in group B of the women's 55kg event.

The 20-year-old from Odisha lifted a total of 164kg (71kg+93kg) in the four-woman field. After lifting 68kg and 71kg, Sneha failed to lift 73kg in her final snatch attempt. While in clean and jerk, she hoisted 93kg in her first try but couldn't manage 98kg and 100kg in the subsequent attempts.

Her final standing will be determined after the end of the group A proceedings. Jhilli's gold was India's second medal of the tournament as star weightlifter Mirabai Chanu had smashed the world record in the clean and jerk category enroute a bronze medal on Saturday. The Olympic-bound Chanu lifted 86kg in snatch and a world record of 119kg in clean and jerk for a total of 205kg, which was also her personal best.

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