Mirabai Chanu's Asian Championship campaign did not go as per plan as she faltered in snatch and chose not to make her last two clean and jerk attempts to finish sixth.
They weren't up for a windfall even after the trophy but life was certain to get a lot better as some sponsors and state governments stepped up to lift them financially.
Former champion Mirabai Chanu bettered her own national record but missed out on a podium, finishing a creditable fourth, in the women's 49kg event at the Weightlifting World Championships.
Akshay B Gaikwad clinched three gold medals while Lalu Taku bagged a silver and two bronze as Indian Weightlifters continued to shine at the 15th Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships in Doha.
Chanu, who is employed with the Indian Railways, lifted 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk to total an impressive 194kg in the women's 48kg, setting a new national record in the process.
Pramila Krisani was the star of the day as she bagged three more silver medals to swell India's kitty on the second day of the Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships, in Pattaya, Thailand, on Tuesday.
Shailaja Pujari won a bronze medal in the snatch and silver in the clean and jerk at the Asian Weightlifting Championships.
India will organise the Olympics in future, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said.
India added three more medals with Vikas Thakur winning a silver and two bronze in men's 77kg category on the second day of Asian Junior Weightlifting Championships at Pattaya, Thailand on Saturday.
This was Jeremy's fourth international competition in 67kg after the IWF added this weight category last year for the Olympic Games and other events.
India won nine gold, as many silver and two bronze medals in total.
It was double delight for the hosts in the men's 61kg junior event as Sankar Lapung clinched the bronze medal with a best effort of 256kg (114kg+142kg).
The 2023 World Championships is one of the two compulsory qualifying events for the Paris Olympics.
An effort of 305kg helped Lalrinnunga bag the gold medal in the men's 67kg category
Apart from Mirabai, the four other Indian lifters were placed in groups C and D, failing to finish even in the top 20 at the Worlds, earlier this month.
Ragala Venkat Rahul won three gold medals to help India increase their medals tally to seven on the second day of the 14th Asian Youth (boys & girls') Weightlifting Championships at Yangon, Myanmar, on Friday. Competing in the 77 kg category, Rahul secured the yellow metal in snatch, clean and jerk and overall with a total lift of 280 kg.
Mirabai Chanu's medal hopes swell after North Korea's withdrawal from Olympics
Pressure will be on Mirabai Chanu to nail the much-awaited 90kg snatch lift for a shot at that elusive Asian Games medal when the weightlifting competition gets underway in Hangzhou on Saturday.
Lovepreet, including a new national record of 192 kg in clean and jerk, to finish third on the podium.
Ajay also smashed the national record in the clean and jerk event by lifting more than double his body weight (190kg) to score vital points at the Olympic qualifying event.
Chanu had confessed that the 90kg lift had become somewhat of a mental block last year, ahead of the CWG.
The Odisha weightlifter is currently World No. 15 following his total lift of 311 kgs at the Asian Championships in April. The bodybuilder-turned-weightlifter came into the limelight in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi where he bagged three gold. The London Games will serve as a great learning platform for this first timer.
Gyaneshwari Yadav clinched the silver medal and compatriot V Rithika finished third to give India a double podium finish in the women's 49kg category at the IWF Junior World Weightlifting Championships in Heraklion, Greece, on Monday night.
Chanu has consistently improved in the section to stay in contention for medals at top events.
The 16-year-old Mizoram weightlifter, in fact, broke 15 records in total, combining national and international marks.
As soon as Nooh Dastagir Butt won Pakistan's first gold medal at the Birmingham Games, one of the first persons to lend a congratulatory hand was none other than Indian superstar Mirabai Chanu.
Chanu ended India's over two-decade-long wait for a weightlifting medal at the Olympics.
India's doping woes came to the fore once again with the country topping the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2023 testing figures among countries which analysed 5,000 or more samples even as the sports ministry promised an "aggressive clean-up" and an amended Anti-Doping Act after addressing objections from the WADA.
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is focussing on an Asian Games gold medal, the only accolade missing from her showcase.
The ongoing crisis in Manipur has affected several others in the country in one way or the other. Over the years Manipur has produced brilliant sports person in the country.
Weightlifter Kavita Devi has been banned for two years after failing a drugs test, India's weightlifting chief said on Monday. Kavita, who competes in the women's 75kg, was hauled back from last month's Asian championships in Japan after the Indian weightlifting federation learned she had tested positive for a steroid during a World Anti-Doping Agency test.
Olympic silver medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu will miss the World Championship and the Commonwealth Senior Championship slated to take place simultaneously between December 7 to 17 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
After the high of the Tokyo Games, India's Olympic silver medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu has turned her focus on winning a second world championship title and is ironing out the chinks in her armour ahead of the event.
Narmada Nithin Raju claimed the gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle with a new national record score of 254.4.
Injured Mirabai Chanu's return to the weightlifting arena has been further delayed as the Olympic silver medallist is set to miss the Asian Championships in February next year.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Another gold medal in Paris would further elevate Neeraj Chopra's status as the greatest ever athlete in the history of Indian sport.
Assam's teenage weightlifter Bedabrat Bharali won the gold medal in the men's 73kg at the IWF World Youth Championships in Lima, Peru. The 17-year-old finished 12kg clear of his competitors with a total lift of 296kg (136 in snatch and 160 in clean and jerk).
'We know that Mira has to go well beyond the 200kg mark. 202kg will not cut it this time but somewhere around 205-206kg should do it. But we are prepared for the challenge.'
India added 26 gold, 18 silver and 6 bronze on Thursday.
