Weightlifter Vikas Thakur bags silver in men's 96kg at CWG

The lifter had a strong second half of the competition to finish second.

There was another silver lining for the Indian weightlifting contingent at Commonwealth Games 2022 as Vikas Thakur finished second in the men's 96kg category final. Vikas won his third consecutive CWG medal as he lifted a total of 346kgs to secure the silver. Don Opeloge of Samoa won gold with a games record of 381kgs and Taniela Tuisuva Rainibogi of Fiji won bronze with 343kgs.

Vikas began his snatch round with a lift of 149kgs. He lifted an additional four kilograms in his second attempt - 153kgs. In his last snatch lift, he pulled off a weight of 155kgs to end the round. At the midway mark, he was tied at the third spot with 155kgs.

Thakur was to begin his clean and jerk round with a lift of 185kgs. However, he went for 187kgs and successfully lifted it. Next, he lifted 191kgs to propel him into the top three. He tried to better his personal best in clean and jerk (197kgs) by lifting 198kgs in his final attempt. He failed, but the silver medal was confirmed by this time.

A proven performer

Vikas, 28, is a name to reckon with in the international weightlifting circuit. The Ludhiana-born weightlifter has five Commonwealth Championship medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze) to his name. With a silver medal at Birmingham 2022, he completed a hat-trick of CWG medals adding to his silver at 2014 Glasgow and bronze at 2018 Gold Coast.

Coach Vijay Sharma deserves credit

Vijay Sharma is the head coach of the Indian weightlifting team. He had stated that the ongoing CWG 2022 might not be a huge challenge for the Indian weightlifters, but it will help them to prepare for the Paris Olympics 2024. Till now, India have won a total of eight medals in the weightlifting discipline with Vikas Thakur’s silver medal being the latest one.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Twitter, and Instagram and join our community on Telegram.