Indian lifters sign off with 20 medals at Commonwealth Championships

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Lovepreet Singh and Purnima Pandey finished on the podium on the final day as hosts India wrapped up the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships with a rich haul of 20 medals on Sunday. Indian weightlifters won a silver and a bronze medal on the last day of the competition. India won nine gold, as many silver and two bronze medals in total.

Having clinched the silver in the last edition, Punjab lifter Lovepreet finished second best once again in the 109kg weight class after lifting a total of 341kg (154kg+187kg), which was below his 355kg (163kg+192kg) medal-winning effort during the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last year. The CWG bronze medallist could have logged a better total had he not failed in his two snatch attempts of 158kg. The 25-year-old, a former junior Asian bronze medal winner, just about managed to edge past Englishman Andrew Griffiths 340kg (155kg+185kg), who heaved a kilogram less than Lovepreet.

Gold medallist Taniela Tuisuva Rainibogi 363kg (163kg+200kg) of Fiji was competing with himself. The 25-year-old had secured the title with his first clean and jerk attempt of 188kg itself but went on to lift 195kg and 200kg respectively. The other Indian lifter in action, last edition's champion Purnima bagged the bronze medal in the women's +87kg category.

Purnima lifted 227kg (102kg+125kg), two kilograms less than her 2021 total, to grab the last spot on the podium. However, she was no match for the Samoan duo of Luniarra Sipaia 262kg (110kg+152kg) and Lesila Fiapule 250kg (110kg+140kg). The two completed a 1-2 finish for the island nation.