World Weightlifting Championships | Not much to look forward to for India as Mirabai Chanu to only appear for weigh-in
N Ajith and Achinta Sheuli, who were kicked out of the Asian Games team, will have a point to prove, while Mirabai Chanu will only make a statement by showing up in the weigh-in at the World Championships, which is a Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying event.
In order to conserve her best for the Asian Games, which begin later this month, Chanu (49 kg) has eliminated herself from medal contention in the major competition, which gets underway here on Monday. She will just finish the requirements so she may continue to compete in the Paris Games.
The Worlds are expected to be a lacklustre event for her nation because Chanu isn't lifting. No Indian lifter will be in the running for a medal since none of them registered a starting weight that qualified them for Group A classification.
Group A is assigned to the lifters with the highest entrance weight, then group B, and so on. Due to their failure to satisfy the requirements of the Sports Ministry, Ajith and Sheuli were abruptly removed from the Asiad squad last month. The two will want to do well in this matchup as they are 73 kg competitors.
As the current national champion, Ajith has been placed in Group C with an entrance weight of 305 kg. The gold medalist at the Commonwealth Championships experienced some aches and pains, but she has now healed and will try to go closer to the 320 kg level.
Ajith told PTI, "I have been lifting 318 kg in training; I want to reach 320 kg. Sheuli, however, has experienced injury problems ever since she was named the CWG champion last year. He suffered a hamstring injury during last year's warm-ups, ending his heartbreaking Worlds campaign. The Kolkata lifter is still experiencing back pain, which may be the reason he entered the competition at a weight of only 280 kg rather than his personal high of 313 kg for a spot in Group D.
The third Indian lifter is Shubham Todkar (61 kg). The Maharashtra lifter will be eager to give a better account of himself because he hasn't performed at his best in either of the two international competitions in which he has participated. "For the World Championships I want to increase my snatch to 125kg and clean and jerk up till 155kg," he said.