Asian Games: Mirabai Chanu bags silver in 49kg weightlifting

NAGOYA: Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu clinched the silver medal in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the Asian Games on Wednesday, marking a significant return to the continental podium.

Chanu lifted a combined 198kg, with an 87kg effort in snatch and 111kg in clean and jerk, to finish second in the competition.

Her silver is India’s first weightlifting medal at the Asian Games since Karnam Malleswari won bronze in 1998.

North Korea’s two-time world champion Ri Song-gum lived up to expectations, winning gold with a total lift of 215kg (94kg in snatch and 121kg in clean and jerk). The victory also gave her a hat-trick of Asian Games titles.

Chanu opened her snatch campaign with 83kg before successfully lifting 85kg and 87kg in her subsequent attempts. She finished the first half of the competition in third place.

She then produced a strong performance in the clean and jerk, successfully lifting 111kg to secure the silver medal.

The Asian Games medal adds another major achievement to Chanu’s decorated career. She has previously won an Olympic silver medal, a World Championship gold along with two other World Championship medals, multiple Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Championships titles, and a bronze at the Asian Championships.

After coming close to an Asian Games medal on two previous occasions, Chanu finally secured a place on the podium in Nagoya.