CWG 2022: 'Paristhiti achhi nahi, thoda koshish karo' - Silver medallist Sanket Sargar lives up to expectations of his father, who runs a paan shop

Sanket led the charts during the entire event until his second Clean and Jerk (C&J) attempt, but stood second to Bin Mohamad Aniq in the end. The Malaysian's third and final C&J lift of 142kg snatched the gold away from Sanket, by just a kilo.

(PTI photo)The Indian's combined weight stood at 248kg (113kg in Snatch and 135kg in C&J) compared to Aniq's 249kg (107kg and 142kg), which is also a new Games Record. Sri Lanka's Dilanka Yodage finished with a total lift of 225kg for the bronze.

(ANI photo)It's worth mentioning that earlier this year, Sanket, the reigning 55kg national champion, smashed the Commonwealth and the national record to win gold at the Singapore Weightlifting International. He totalled 256kg there (113kg in Snatch and 143kg in C&J).

(Reuters photo)So the 139kg he failed to lift in Saturday in C&J was not beyond him. But something changed. He got a good clean, but just dropped his chest going into the jerk mode and hurt his elbow. Back home in Sangli, at the Digvijay Institute of Weightlifting, where Sanket learned the basics of the sport, celebrations must have been subdued after the Malaysian Aniq's final lift. At that moment, Sanket was flat on the mat in the preparation area of the hall, writhing in pain and not aware that the gold medal that had his name written all over it, was not going to come home. But let's go a day back, on the eve of Sanket's event in Birmingham. His father, who runs a 'paan' shop and "chai ka thela" (tea cart) was waiting for business.

Sanket's father Mahadev Ananda Sargar at his paan shop. (Credit: TOI Special Arrangement)"Paristhiti" (condition) was a word he used often for the 10 minutes he talked to TimesoIndia.com. A father of three, with Sanket elder to his brother