Bindiarani Devi
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
Commonwealth Games silver medalist weightlifter Bindiarani Devi on Saturday opened India’s account with a silver medal at the Asian Championships in Jinju, Korea. Bindiarani of Manipur finished second with a total lift of 194 kg (83 + 111 kg). His 55 kg weight category, however, is not included in the Olympics.
Bindiarani lifted 80kg and 83kg in her first two attempts in the snatch. After this she tried to lift 85 kg but failed in that. His personal best performance has been 86 kg. The Indian made up for it in the clean and jerk and won the silver medal with the second highest lift. Chinese Taipei’s Chen Guan Ling won the gold with 204kg (90+114kg) while Vietnam’s Vo Thi Quanh Nhu (88+104kg) won the bronze.
Improved performance in clean and jerk
Bindiarani was running fourth in the snatch but then took the second best weight in the clean and jerk. She then attempted to lift 115 kg to improve her overall score but failed. He had lifted 116 in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last year. The 24-year-old decided to go back to the 55kg category after getting injured ahead of the selection trials. He had earlier started competing in 59kg which is part of the Paris Olympics. Bindiarani had participated in the World Championships last year in the 59kg category, where she finished 25th.
Participation was necessary for the Olympics
Ahead of the tournament, chief coach Vijay Sharma had insisted on Bindiarani’s participation only in the championship as the event is important as the qualifiers for the Paris Olympics and ahead of the Asian Games later this year. As per the Paris 2024 Olympic qualification rules, it is mandatory for a weightlifter to participate in the 2023 World Championships and 2024 World Cup.
Apart from this, it is mandatory to participate in any three of the five other competitions 2022 World Championship, 2023 Continental Championship and 2023 Grand Prix-1, Grand Prix-2 and 2024 Continental Championship. Olympic silver medalists Mirabai Chanu and Bindiyarani, both competing here, had also appeared in the World Championships last year. Now he has to participate in another competition. The best three performances in the qualifying events are included in the final assessment.