Indian weightlifters Sivalingam Sathish Kumar and Saikhom Mirabai Chanu earned the right to compete at the Rio Olympics in men's and women's weight categories respectively after topping the selection trials. Selection trials were held in Patiala to choose one lifter each from men's and women's category across all weight divisions after India had earned two quota places for the Rio Games at Senior Asian Championships at Tashkent, Uzbekistan in April. Sathish earned the ticket for Rio after finishing on top among male lifters with a total of 336kg in 77kg weight division. He lifted 151kg in snatch and 185kg in clean & jerk.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion is struggling with an unidentified lower-back problem since May and is yet to begin full-fledged weight training.
In an unusual move, ace weightlifter Mirabai Chanu has been nominated for the Arjuna award by the national federation though the former World champion is already a recipient of Khel Ratna, country's highest sporting honour. The Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) has nominated Chanu along with Ragala Venkat Rahul and Punam Yadav.
The 15-year-old from Aizwal, who is also a world youth silver-medallist, lifted a total of 274 kg (124 kg +150 kg) to finish on top.
The 2017 world champion is currently ranked second in the women's 49kg Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) behind China's Jian HuiHua.
"There is very less time between the Asian Games and the World Championships. Since there is compulsory participation at the World Championships, we have decided that Mirabai only travel to Riyadh and give the body weight.
Teenager Deepak Lather, on Friday, became the youngest Indian weightlifter to claim a Commonwealth Games medal, clinching a bronze in the men's 69kg category.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Achinta Sheuli and fellow Indian lifter N Ajith are both ready to leave the disappointment of missing out on Asian Games selection.
The World Championship is one of the ten qualifying events for the 2020 Japan Olympics.
P Harita of India won a bronze in the women's 63 kg in a barren day for India in weightlifting.
Newly-crowned weightlifting world champion Saikhom Mirabai Chanu says she thought of quitting the sport after receiving flak for her failure to win a medal at the Rio Olympics.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Injuries are mentally challenging, delighted to be back in competition: Mirabai Chanu
World champion and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu says the injury is not as bad as first thought and she would need just two weeks of training to be competition ready.
The negative publicity surrounding the series of dope flunks by lifters has forced the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) to forfeit itself the right to host Asian Youth and Junior Championships in December, a top official of the federation said on Tuesday.
Three wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh, who were to take part in the World University Games beginning on Friday in Chengdu, were issued 'stapled visas' by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, which led to the entire team being held back while the players from other sports left the country.
Besides the duo, 2017 World Weightlifting Champion in the 48kg category, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and former Asian Games gold medallist tennis player Somdev Devvarman were conferred with the Padma Shri award.
Indonesia's Juniansyah Rizki 349kg(155kg+194kg) put up a spectacular performance, breaking the junior world record in all three events to win the gold medal, while Russia's Serobian Gevorg 308kg (143kg+165kg) took home the bronze.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
The runner-up Elabbassi lodged a complaint with race officials.
Weightlifter Sanjita Chanu once again finds herself embroiled in a dope controversy.
Mirabai will desperately hope for a different script this time round, one that involves a podium.
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu will start as overwhelming favourite to clinch the top prize in women's 48kg category at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast next month.
Mirabai Chanu was the historic success story of Indian weightlifting in a blemish-free 2017 in which the sport managed to stay clear of the dope scandals that have destroyed its credibility in the past.
Bindyarani Devi wondered if the news of her silver medal-winning effort at the Asian Championships 2023 had reached her parents, in violence-hit Manipur.
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu says the triumph did not just lessen the pain of her Olympic failure but also ensured that missing her elder sister's wedding was not for nothing.
Virat Kohli sent the shutterbugs into a clicking frenzy as he received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
'It is positive news not just for us but for the nation. She is training in America and I am closely watching the way she is working and I have no doubt that she will fight for a gold medal.'
The 16-year-old Indian weightlifter, competing in the 67 kg category, obliterated the Youth World, Asian and Commonwealth records in the snatch category with a lift of 136kgs.
Jeremy Lalrinnunga smashed two Games records on his way to a sensational gold medal win
The postponement of the Tokyo Games and a break in training due to the COVID-19 lockdown last year brought with it a shoulder issue for the weightlifter that could have led to a completely different result, something Chanu had been worried about.
Olympic silver medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu will compete in a new weight class -- 55kg -- at the Commonwealth Games later this year to help maximise India's chances of winning more gold medals in the multi-sport event in Birmingham.
The women's national wrestling camp will be held at Sports Authority of India's Patiala centre in future following reservations from multiple female grapplers.
Sanjita Chanu had tested positive for an anabolic steroid during an in-competition testing at the National Games in Gujarat in September-October last year.
For some, the delayed Asian Games means more time to rest and prepare, for others the postponement has "messed up" their planning.
India's tally at the world event now stands at four medals.
Also seen in action for India will be the shuttlers, boxers, the women's hockey team and the table tennis players among others.
Rediff.com's Norma Godinho and Laxmi Negi glance at the athletes and disciplines likely to win medals for India at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
An array of Olympians and stars of sports niche and new arrive in the South Korean city of Incheon for the 17th Asian Games this month, bringing together some 10,000 athletes for a 16-day multi-sport spectacular second only in scale to the Summer Olympics.
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