Mirabai Chanu bettered three of her own national records
Claimed women's 48kg title at National Weightlifting Championships
Manipuri lifter failed to breach the elusive 90kg snatch barrier
Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu delivered a statement performance, bettering three of her own national records while clinching the women's 48kg title at the National Weightlifting Championships in Modinagar on Wednesday.
The multiple-time World Championships medallist registered a combined lift of 205kg (89kg in snatch + 116kg in clean and jerk), setting new national marks in snatch, clean and jerk and total effort.
"I am delighted. This performance has boosted my confidence. Earlier, I was competing in 49kg, to be able to achieve this result in 48kg is great.
"I hope in the next competition I cross the 90kg mark. Today also I tried but since I had not had proper training I was not able to do it. But once the training is in full flow I'm sure I'll lift 90kg," Chanu told PTI after her gold-winning performance.
While Chanu has remained India's most decorated weightlifter in the past decade, she had not bettered her personal best in snatch and clean and jerk since 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Wednesday's performance, therefore, signals renewed progress and sharpness as Chanu gears up for a packed season that starts with the Asian Championships in April followed by the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the World Championships.
"This attempt (to improve the personal bests) was to boost my confidence and also to assess the technique of and training, if it's working or not," Chanu said.
As is often the case at domestic competitions with Chanu, she was never really under threat of missing out on gold, needing only two successful lifts each in the snatch and clean and jerk to seal the title.
However, there was a noticeable shift in strategy with India chief coach Vijay Sharma pushing Chanu instead of adopting a conservative approach.
The 31-year-old opened with a higher-than-usual starting weight of 86kg in the snatch and 112kg in the clean and jerk.
She responded confidently, clearing 86kg with ease before producing a flawless lift of 89kg. The effort improved upon her previous personal best snatch record of 88kg, set at the 2020 Nationals in the 49kg category.
The diminutive Manipuri lifter has been repeatedly chasing the elusive 90kg barrier since 2019, often coming agonisingly close. On Wednesday too, she made an attempt at 91kg in her final lift but failed to maintain balance.
In the clean and jerk as well, Chanu completed lifts of 112kg and 116kg before being pushed to attempt 120kg in her final effort, which she could not execute.
Notably, Chanu had set a world record with a lift of 119kg in clean and jerk at the 2021 Asian Championships.
Sharma, however, felt that Chanu should have got the elusive lift.
"She should have cleared 90 today. She is very close to it. You'll see in the Asian Championships her second attempt will be 90kg or 90kg+. It has become very important to get the lift," Sharma said.
With age not on her side and an injury-prone body, Chanu and Sharma have worked extensively on tuning her snatch technique.
"There has been a lot of changes in training, there is more focus on recovery now. Her speed (while lifting the barbell while attempting a snatch lift) has increased. She is now holding the bar a lot closer to the body and that's why is able to go for 90kg-91kg," Sharma explained.
All India Police's Radha Soni 183kg (79kg+104kg) and Komal Kohar 182kg (79kg+103kg) of Railways secured the silver and bronze medals respectively.
