IWF Grand Prix II: India return home after sub-par performance

A total of five Indian weightlifters participated in the competition.

The IWF Prix II concluded on Thursday, December 14th with several weightlifters gaining valuable points in Paris Olympics qualification cycle. From India’s point of view none of the athletes performed close to their best with Mirabai Chanu just registering for the tournament.

She is currently recuperating from an injury and is also scheduled to miss the upcoming Asian Weightlifting Championships in February, 2024. Apart from her, Bindyarani Devi in women’s 55kg successfully attempted 81kg in snatch but failed to lift any weight in clean & jerk.

In the men’s section, Commonwealth Games 2022 medallist, Achinta Sheuli, who was placed in Group B finished 12th by registering 306kg (136+170). His compatriot, Ajith Narayana secured the 16th spot with a total of 290kg (133+157). The weightlifter from Tamil Nadu was placed in Group C and a total of 24 athletes participated in the 73kg weight category.

Another Commonwealth Games medallist, Gurdeep Singh, finished underwhelming 12th in the men’s +109kg category. The athlete from Punjab managed a total lift of 340kg (145+195) which was 50kg below his Commonwealth Games 2022 total. He was out of action for almost a year due to wrist injury and is slowly making a comeback in the international competitions.

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With this, the international tournaments for the current year is done and dusted and the next major event for the Indians will be the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2024. Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu has made already her absence from the event. She is currently ranked 2nd in the Road to Paris qualification rankings and should comfortably qualify for the Olympics.

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