Asian Weighlifting Championships to kick-off from Friday, Mirabai Chanu to return
May 04, 2023
Jinju [South Korea], May 4 : Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu is set to compete at the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2023 in Jinju, South Korea which is starting on Friday.
Apart from Chanu, Commonwealth Games champions Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli will participate in the event.
Six Indian weightlifters will compete at the continental championships, which is second in the series of qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as per Olympics.com.
Mirabai Chanu won a silver medal in the women's 49kg division at the World Weightlifting Championships 2022 in Colombia which was the first qualifiers event.
The grapplers are competing in this event to better their Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) which will be decided on their total results (snatch + clean and jerk).
The qualified 10 weightlifters (Maximum one per country) from each category will get published by International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) at the end qualification period for the Paris Olympics on April 28, 2024.
Chanu would be seen in action after undergoing a five-month rehabilitation programme at NIS Patiala. She will be competing in the women's 49kg category.
Jeremy Lalrinnunga (men's 67kg) and Achinta Sheuli (men's 73kg) will also mark their return from injuries at the tournament.
During his gold medal-winning performance at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, Jeremy Lalrinnunga pulled his lower back and thigh.
Achinta Sheuli pulled his hamstring before he could start his campaign at the World Weightlifting Championships in December.
Bindyarani Devi, who won silver in women's 55kg at the Commonwealth Games 2022, Shubham Todkar (men's 61kg) and Narayana Ajith (men's 73kg) complete the Indian contingent at the event.
Harshada Garud, competing in women's 45kg, won a bronze in the last edition of the competition. It was India's only medal in the Asian Weightlifting Championships held last year in Manama, Bahrain.
