Forde (Norway), Oct 1: On a comeback trail, former champion Mirabai Chanu will continue to test herself in the new 48kg category when she once again carries India’s medal hopes at the World Weightlifting Championships beginning here on Thursday.
Although India has fielded a 12-member squad, the 2017 world champion and 2022 silver medallist Chanu remains the country’s lone realistic medal contender.
With the new Olympic weight divisions in effect for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, the 31-year-old has opted to move down from the 49kg class to 48kg.
The injury-hit Tokyo Olympic silver medallist returned to action in August after a year-long rehab, managing a modest 193kg (84kg+109kg) at the Commonwealth Championships in a relatively weak field.
At the first Worlds of the new Olympic cycle, Chanu will not only gauge her own progress but, along with chief coach Vijay Sharma, also assess the landscape of both fresh and familiar challengers.
“The tournament will help us understand where Mira is lacking, what we need to work on,” Sharma told PTI.
“There are several new lifters in the 48kg, so we will keep an eye on the competition to calibrate our targets and build up gradually.
“As far as the weight load goes, the main aim will be to breach the 200kg mark in total. We want to slowly get back to the weights Mira was lifting in 49kg,” Sharma added.
Chanu’s personal best in the snatch stands at 88kg, while she had previously hoisted a then world record 119kg in the clean and jerk at the 2021 Asian Championships.
While reigning 49kg champion Ri Song Gum of North Korea remains the firm favourite for gold, Chanu is expected to face stiff competition from Asian champion Thanyathon Sukcharoen of Thailand and last edition’s bronze medallist Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines.
All three rivals have crossed the 90kg mark in the snatch, a milestone that Chanu continues to chase, while the Chinese duo of Zhu Qiulian and Li Shumiao remain largely unknown quantities.
The World Championships will also serve as one of the qualifying events for next year’s Commonwealth Games.
For the other Indian lifters, gaining international exposure and assessing rivals will be the key takeaways, with most of them having already peaked at the Commonwealth Championships, making it difficult to hit top form again in such a short span.
The Indian Squad
Women: Mirabai Chanu (48kg), Bindyarani Devi (58kg), Nirupama Devi (63kg), Harjinder Kaur (69kg), Vanshita Verma (86kg), Mehak Sharma (+86kg).
Men: Rishikanta Singh (60kg), M Raja (65kg), N Ajith (71kg), Ajaya Valluri Babu (79kg), Dilabg Singh (94kg), Lovepreet Singh (+110kg). (PTI)
