New Delhi
World champion Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu on Thursday notched up a gold medal at the EGAT Cup in Thailand, making a strong comeback from the lower back injury that kept her out of action for more than half of 2018.
According to the information received here, Chanu won the 49kg category gold with a effort of 192 kg in the silver level Olympic qualifying event, the points from which will come in handy when the final rankings for Tokyo 2020 cut are done.
Japan’s Miyake Hiromi claimed the silver, while the bronze went to Papua New Guinea’s Loa Dika Toua . While Hiromi is the Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Dika Toua won the 53kg category silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
The 24-year-old Manipuri lifted 82kg in snatch and 110kg in clean and jerk to finish on top of the podium after recovering from the injury, which required extensive physiotherapy and kept her out of action for nine months.
Chanu had missed the world championships last year, a gold level Olympic qualifier, owing to the injury which had also forced her out of the Asian Games in Jakarta. “My next target is the Asian Championships in China, followed by the world championships, which is very crucial for me,” Chanu said.
