CWG 2022: Led by Mirabai Chanu, lifters look to start India's medal run in style

The country’s weightlifters have been the second-biggest contributor – after shooting (135 medals) – to India’s medal haul at the CWG since the sport’s inclusion in the quadrennial meet at the Auckland edition in 1950, with 43 gold, 48 silver and 34 bronze and an overall tally of 125. India had finished on top of the medals tally in weightlifting at the Gold Coast Games in 2018, bringing home five gold, two silver and an equal number of bronze medals. Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai will headline India’s 15-member weightlifting contingent, which will contest in 14 different categories at the Games. Mirabai (49kg) will be in action on the opening day of the weightlifting competitions at the NEC Arena on Saturday, along with debutant Bindyarani Devi in the women’s 55kg category. Bindyarani had won the clean and jerk gold at the women’s Worlds in Tashkent in December last year, apart from a silver at the Commonwealth meet which were being held concurrently.

But it will be the men’s duo of Sanket Sargar (55kg) and Gururaja Poojary (61kg), who would go first-up in the morning session to launch the country’s bid for gold medal rush in Birmingham. Guru -raja is a 2018 edition bronze medallist but he will have his task cut out against Gold Coast CWG champion (62kg), Malaysia’s Muhammad Aznil bin Bidin, who had bested the Indian at the 2021 Tashkent C’wealth Championships with an overall effort of 273kg, eight kgs more than Gururaja’s 265kg. For the 21-year-old Sanket, his build-up to the CWG has been excellent. He broke the Common -wealth and National record in the men’s 55kg cate -gory during his gold-winning campaign at the Singapore weightlifting meet, where he had lifted a total of 256kg (113kg snatch+143kg C&J).