Indian lifters bag 7 medals at CWC

Ahmedabad: Indian weightlifters bagged a rich haul of seven medals, including a silver and a bronze in the senior category, with rising star Sairaj Pardeshi grabbing the spotlight with a record-breaking gold on the fifth day of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships here on Friday.

Reigning National Games champion Dilbag Singh settled for silver in the men’s 94kg event with a total lift of 342kg (153kg snatch + 189kg clean and jerk).

The gold went to Malaysia’s Mohammad Syahmi Bin Nor Ghazali, who edged past Dilbag with 343kg (150kg+193kg), while Australia’s Oliver Saxton took bronze with 336kg (150kg+186kg). Vanshita Verma took bronze in the senior women’s 86kg division, lifting 222kg (95kg+127kg). Australia’s Eileen Cikamatana bagged gold with 255kg (110kg+145kg), followed by New Zealand’s Litia Nacagilevu, who managed 235kg (107kg+128kg) for a silver.

The day, however, belonged to 18-year-old Pardeshi, who stamped his authority in the men’s 88kg junior category.

The youngster, the reigning Asian Youth and Junior Championships winner, totalled 348kg (157kg+191kg), bettering the existing Commonwealth junior snatch record of 155kg held by Fiji’s Nehemiah Elder, while also surpassing his own junior clean and jerk (186kg) and total (338kg) marks. Pardeshi’s tally was good enough to win gold in the senior event as well, where Canada’s Braydon Kennedy topped the field with 347kg (164kg+183kg). agencies