Sports Desk: Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu secured her maiden Asian Games medal on Wednesday, winning silver in the women’s 49kg category at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and ending India’s 28-year wait for a medal in the sport. The Olympic silver medallist produced a total lift of 198kg, finishing behind North Korea’s Ri Song Gum, who claimed gold with 215kg. Indonesia’s Luluk Diana Tri Wijayana won bronze with a total of 191kg. Chanu was flawless in the snatch section, successfully lifting 83kg, 85kg and 87kg in her three attempts. She then opened the clean and jerk with 107kg before successfully lifting 111kg on her second attempt, taking her combined total to 198kg.
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The medal ended a long wait for the 32-year-old Manipuri lifter, who had previously missed the Asian Games podium. She finished ninth at the 2014 Incheon Games, missed the 2018 edition because of injury and came fourth at Hangzhou in 2023 after an injury disrupted her final clean-and-jerk attempt. Chanu already had an Olympic silver, a World Championship title and multiple Commonwealth Games medals to her name. The Asian Games medal was the major international honour missing from her collection.
Her silver also ended India’s 28-year wait for an Asian Games weightlifting medal. Karnam Malleswari was the last Indian to win a medal in the sport, taking silver at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. North Korea’s Ri dominated the competition, setting new records on her way to gold. Her 215kg total included a 94kg snatch and a 121kg clean and jerk. Chanu’s achievement adds another significant milestone to her decorated career and gives Indian weightlifting its first Asian Games medal since 1998.
