New Delhi: After Sanket Sargar won India a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022, Gururaja followed and won a bronze medal in Men’s 61 kg weightlifting. In the 2018 games, Gururaja Poojary was the first Indian athlete to get a medal and he is the second this time.
He lifted 118 kg in the snatch round and 151 kg in the clean and jerk round to make a total of 269 kg. This total ensured him the bronze medal as Canada’s Youri Simard lifted a total of 268 kg. In the last Commonwealth Games, he won the silver medal by lifting 249 kg (111 kg + 138 kg). The gold medal was won by Malaysia’s Muhamad Aznil Bidin who lifted 127 kg in snatch and 158 kg in clean jerk to make the new Commonwealth Games Record in both rounds. The silver medal was bagged by Papua New Guinea’s Morea Baru who lifted 273 kg (121 kg + 152 kg).
The Birmingham games marked Gururaj’s second consecutive podium finish. His 151 kg lift in the clean and jerk round is also his personal best.
In his first attempt in the snatch round, he lifted 115 kg, while he lifted 118 kg in the second attempt. In his third attempt, he went for 120 kg but failed to successfully lift the bar. He was in the fourth position after the snatch round. It was the clean and jerk round where he gave a remarkable performance to finish on the podium. He lifted 144 in the first attempt and raised the bar by 4 kg to go for 148 kg in his second. After a successful lift in the second attempt, he went for a tough lift of over 150 kg. He lifted 151 kg to get the bronze medal around his neck.
Other Indian weightlifters to watch out for include Mirabai Chanu who will fight for the gold at 8:00 pm IST and Bindyarani Devi, who will surely look out to get her hands on a medal.
