Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Mirabai Chanu finished sixth on her return to competitive action at the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2023 in Jinju, South Korea on Friday.
Mirabai Chanu underwent a five-month rehabilitation programme after winning silver at the world championships in December and decided to go easy in her first competition since then.
She lifted 85kg in snatch, modest by her standards, and 109kg in clean and jerk for a combined lift of 194kg (85kg + 109kg). The effort placed her sixth on the overall leaderboard in the women’s 49kg category. Mirabai Chanu’s personal best is 88kg in snatch and 119kg in the clean and jerk.
Reigning world champion Jiang Huihua of China won the gold medal with a combined lift of 207kg (94kg+113kg). Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Hou Zhihui of China settled for silver with 204kg (93kg+111kg). Thailand’s Surodchana Khambao claimed bronze for a total effort of 200kg (90kg+110kg).
Mirabai Chanu’s only medal at the Asian Championships so far has come at the 2020 edition in Tashkent where she won a bronze for a total lift of 205kg, which included the world record clean and jerk of 119kg.
Mirabai Chanu started with an 85kg lift in the snatch. She tried for 88kg on her second and third attempts but could not complete it. The effort placed her fifth in the snatch category.
In clean and jerk, the Indian weightlifter clinched 109kg on her first try and decided to skip the next two attempts to protect herself from injury. Eventual gold medallist Jiang Huihua did go for a shot at creating the new world record of 120kg but failed in her attempt.
The Asian Weightlifting Championships 2023 is the second in the series of qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Courtesy of a combined lift of 194kg, Mirabai Chanu improved her score in the Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) to 400. She is second on the list and trails leader Jiang Huihua, who is leading the OQR table with 413.
The list of 10 qualified athletes in each Olympic weight category (maximum one per country) will be published by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) at the end of the qualification period for the Paris Olympics on April 28, 2024.
Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medallists Jeremy Lalrinninga (men’s 67kg) and Achinta Sheuli (men’s 73kg) will be in action later in the competition.
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