India shines again at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 after weightlifter Sanjita Chanu clinched the gold medal on day 2. She dominated in the women’s 53kg category held at the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre and won the second gold medal for India.
According to several media reports, Sanjita lifted 104kg and 108kg in the clean & jerk in order to enter into the final round. However, she lost her balance at the last attempt. This made Loa Dika Toua of Papua New Guinea to lift a total of 113kg in the final attempt to grab the gold. But she lost the grip and Sanjitha took the top position.
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Defending champion, Loa Dika had to be satisfied with a silver with a total of 182-kilogram—80 in Snatch and 102 in clean & jerk. Canada’s Rachel Leblanc-Bazinet bagged the bronze as she lifted 181 kg including 81 in Snatch and 100 in clean & jerk.
Sanjita was one of the strongest contenders for Gold from India in this competition. In the previous edition of the CWG held in Glasgow in 2014, she stood first in the 48kg category. However, she later switched to the 53kg. As learned from various reports, after getting inspired by the iconic N Kunjarani Devi, she took up this sport professionally and got her first big win at the 2009 senior nationals and then bronze at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in 2011.
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This gold in Gold Coast came just a day after India opened its medal account with P Gururaja winning a silver in the men’s 56kg event. Later, Mirabai Chanu won the first gold for India in the women’s 48 kg with a lift of 196kg smashing her own record of 194kg. India now leads on the points table with 2 Golds and 1 silver.
