Dehradun, Feb 2 (PTI) Maharashtra weightlifter Vaishnav Thakur broke the snatch national record in the men's 102kg category but settled for silver as he was beaten in total lift by Services' Jagdish Vishwakarma who completed his clean-and-jerk effort standing on just one leg at the National Games here Sunday.
Vaishnav lifted 160kg in the snatch section, surpassing the previous national record of 157kg which was in the name of Jagdish. But a poor clean-and-jerk effort of 175kg meant that Vaishnav finished second in total lift (335kg).
Jagdish, who could only come up with 152kg in snatch, lifted 193kg in clean and jerk for a total of 345kg to win the gold, while Haryana's Harshit Sehrawat (329kg) took the bronze.
Just like he had done in a competition last year, Jagdish lifted his left leg after his clean-and-jerk effort and stood on just one leg for a fraction of a second. But by then he had completed the lift, meaning that it was a 'good lift'.
"In a competition last year, he had lifted his leg before he completed the clean-and-jerk lift and so it was declared a 'no-lift'. But today, he had already completed his lift when he stood on one leg and by then the judges had recorded it as a 'good lift'," an official at the venue told PTI.
Medals are awarded only for total lift in the National Games.
"We have all grown up watching Jagadish bhai, and breaking his record in front of him is a dream come true. Though he beat me overall, today is special," said Vaishnav.
Jagadish, while acknowledging the loss of his record, praised Vaishnav, stating, "I always tell the youngsters, don't focus on medals, focus on breaking records. Vaishnav did that today, but I am not done yet, this has fired me up even more." In the women's 81kg category, Vanshita Verma of Chandigarh secured the gold medal with a total lift of 208kg, successfully lifting 93kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk.
Manpreet of Punjab claimed the silver with a total of 197kg (85kg snatch, 112kg clean and jerk), while Anjana Sreejith of Kerala took the bronze with a total of 196kg.
The women's 87kg event saw Tamil Nadu's Arockiya Alish clinch gold with a total lift of 221kg, followed by Modhusmrita Baruah of Assam, who won silver with 208kg, and Usha of Karnataka, who secured bronze with 197kg.
In the men's 109kg category, Rajasthan's Harcharan Singh dominated the event, lifting 160kg in snatch and 187kg in clean and jerk, to secure the gold medal with a total of 347kg.
Mohd Jameer Hussain (Services) won the silver with a total of 337kg (150kg snatch, 187kg clean and jerk). Manish of Haryana attempted a national record of 193kg in clean and jerk but failed, settling for bronze with total lift of 331kg. PTI PDS AM PDS AM AM