Indian lifters continue to rake in the medals

With the 10 medals won on Wednesday, India’s medal tally on the penultimate day of the competition rose to 21, with 12 gold, eight silver and one bronze. Out of these, juniors have bagged 12 medals, including seven gold.

The highlight of the day was the neck-to-neck fight between two Indians in the senior men’s 69 kg. Katulu Ravi Kumar finally emerged winner with a total lift of 307 kg, two kg more than Govindran Elumalai.

In the senior women’s 63kg, Hijam Poireinganbi Chanu won gold while Minati Sethi added a silver in 53 kg category with a total lift of 175 kg.

Krishna Veni, who was a late inclusion in the Indian squad in place of the dope-tainted Shailaja Pujari, finished fourth in 53 kg division with a total lift of 150 kg.

Veteran +75 kg woman lifter Geeta Rani will compete on Friday and is expected to win at least a medal. In the junior men’s 69 kg, Gaurav Dubey bagged gold with a total lift of 271 kg while another Indian, Moida Ramakrishna (258 kg), won bronze.

The Indians finished 1-2 in junior men’s 77 kg, with Anupdeo Toppo and Ajaydeep Sarang lifting 274 and 273 kgs respectively.

In junior women’s 53 kg division also, Indians were 1-2 with Kolusu Sandhya and Ch Balvir Kaur winning gold and silver respectively. Gara Aruna Rani completed India’s medal tally with a gold in the junior women’s 63 kg with a total lift of 174 kg.