Another Sanjita Chanu, one more gold

Gold Coast: Indian weightlifters claimed two more medals on the second day of the Commonwealth Games here on Friday. Sanjita Chanu took the women’s 53kg category gold, breaking the snatch record in the process while 18-year-old Deepak Lather became the youngest Indian weightlifter to claim a CWG medal, a bronze in the men’s 69kg category.

The Haryana lad was catapulted to third when his nearest opponent fouled his last two clean and jerk attempts. Chanu claimed her second successive CWG gold despite nursing a back problem. She had won a 48kg category gold medal at the 2014 Glasgow CWG.

The diminutive athlete from Manipur lifted a total of 192kg (84kg+108kg) to claim gold ahead of Papua New Guinea’s Loa Dika Toua, who settled for silver with 182kg (80kg+102kg). Canada’s Rachel-LeBlanc-Bazinet (81kg+100kg) bagged bronze.

Lather lifted a total of 295kg (136kg+159kg), three kilogrammes more than Vaipava Ioane of Samoa, his nearest opponent who couldn’t pull off his final lift.
Chanu broke down in tears when she was presented her medal, while Lather grinned in mild disbelief at what had happened.