Commonwealth champion Ajaya Babu finishes 16th in men's 79kg in World Weightlifting C'ships

Forde (Norway), Oct 7 (PTI) Commonwealth champion weightlifter Ajaya Babu Valluri finished 16th in the men's 79kg class as Indians failed to impress at the World Championships after Mirabai Chanu's 48kg silver medal here.

The 20-year-old Ajaya lifted a total of 323kg (146kg snatch + 177kg clean and jerk) to finish 16th overall among 39 competitors on Monday.

His performance was 12kg short of his gold medal-winning total of 335kg (152kg + 183kg) at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Ahmedabad in August. He had sealed his qualification for next year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow by virtue of the win in Ahmedabad.

Indonesia's Rizki Juniansyah logged a clean and jerk world record of 204kg after his 162kg in snatch for a total of 361kg. He had won gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics in 73kg.

North Korea's Ri Chong-song won the silver with a total lift of 360kg (163kg +197kg) while Egypt’s Mohamed Younes took the bronze on countback after matching the same total of 360kg (162kg+198kg).

On Sunday, India's Ajith Narayana and Seram Nirupama Devi finished identical ninth in the men's 71kg and women's 63kg categories respectively.

The 26-year-old Narayana lifted a total of 320kg -- 145kg in snatch and 175kg in clean and jerk to finish ninth among 26 competitors on Monday. He had won gold at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Ahmedabad in August with a total of 317kg (145kg + 172kg), sealing qualification for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Paris Olympics gold medallist Weeraphon Wichuma of Thailand won the gold with a world record total lift of 346kg (152kg+194kg), while the silver went to Miyamoto Masanori of Japan who lifted 345kg (152kg+193kg).

He Yueji of China took the bronze with 344kg total lift which included a world record snatch of 160kg, and clean and jerk of 184kg.

The 25-year-old Devi finished ninth in the women's 63kg field of 35 as she lifted a total of 216kg (93kg+123kg). She had won a silver at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Ahmedabad.

The gold was won by Ri Suk of North Korea with a total lift of 253kg (111kg+142kg). Charron Maude of Canada took the silver with 236kg (103kg+133kg), and Sinisterra Torres Yenny of Colombia the bronze with 231kg (103kg+128kg).

Former champion Mirabai Chanu had won a silver on the opening day with a total lift of 199kg (84kg in snatch + 115kg in clean and jerk) in women's 48kg category. PTI PDS AM PDS AM AM