Mirabai Chanu finishes sixth at Asian Weightlifting Championships

Mirabai Chanu finished sixth in the 49kg weight category at the Asian Weightlifting Championships

Jinju: Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu finished sixth in the 49kg weight category at the Asian Weightlifting Championships, here on Friday.

Chanu, who has a personal best of 88kg (snatch) and 119kg (clean and jerk), lifted 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk for a combined lift of 194kg.

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She started with an 85kg lift in the snatch and went for 88kg on her second and third attempts but could not complete it. The effort placed her fifth in the snatch category.

In clean and jerk, the Indian clinched 109kg on her first try and opted to skip the next two attempts in order to protect herself from an injury.

Chanu’s only medal at the Asian Championships so far has come at the 2020 edition in Tashkent where she won a bronze for a total lift of 205kg, which included the world record clean and jerk of 119kg.

The Asian meet was the Commonwealth Games champion’s first competition since the world championship in December last year as she underwent a five-month rehabilitation programme after winning silver at the competition.

The Asian Championships 2023 is the second in the series of qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

With her combined lift of 194kg, Chanu improved her score in the Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) to 400. She is second on the list with Jiang Huihua leading the OQR table with 413.

The list of 10 qualified athletes in each Olympic weight category (maximum one per country) will be published by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) at the end of the qualification period for the Paris Olympics on April 28, 2024.