Indian lifters bag 7 medals at Commonwealth C'ships

Ahmedabad, Aug 29 (PTI) Indian weightlifters bagged a rich haul of seven medals, including a silver and a bronze in the senior category, with rising star Sairaj Pardeshi grabbing the spotlight with a record-breaking gold on the fifth day of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships here on Friday.

Reigning National Games champion Dilbag Singh settled for silver in the men's 94kg event with a total lift of 342kg (153kg snatch + 189kg clean and jerk).

The gold went to Malaysia's Mohammad Syahmi Bin Nor Ghazali, who edged past Dilbag with 343kg (150kg+193kg), while Australia's Oliver Saxton took bronze with 336kg (150kg+186kg).

Vanshita Verma took bronze in the senior women's 86kg division, lifting 222kg (95kg+127kg). Australia's Eileen Cikamatana bagged gold with 255kg (110kg+145kg), followed by New Zealand's Litia Nacagilevu, who managed 235kg (107kg+128kg) for a silver.

The day, however, belonged to 18-year-old Pardeshi, who stamped his authority in the men's 88kg junior category.

The youngster, the reigning Asian Youth and Junior Championships winner, totalled 348kg (157kg+191kg), bettering the existing Commonwealth junior snatch record of 155kg held by Fiji's Nehemiah Elder, while also surpassing his own junior clean and jerk (186kg) and total (338kg) marks.

Pardeshi's tally was good enough to win gold in the senior event as well, where Canada's Braydon Kennedy topped the field with 347kg (164kg+183kg).

In the same class, three-time Commonwealth champion Ajay Singh endured a forgettable outing, finishing sixth with a total effort of 315kg (140kg+175kg) which was 33kg shy of Pardeshi's effort.

Shah Hussain secured gold in the 88kg youth category with a combined lift of 267kg (115kg+152kg) while his compatriot Hrundanada Das clinched silver with a 317kg (139kg+178kg) effort.

Parv Chaudhary won the gold in the men's 94kg junior and youth events.

The 16-year-old had a total of 337kg (149kg+188kg).

With his effort, he surpassed the junior Commonwealth clean and jerk standard of 186kg, while also improving his own set of youth Commonwealth records in snatch (145kg), clean and jerk (183kg) and total (328kg). PTI APA APA AT AT