CHENNAI: India's top weightlifters have quietly been spilling sweat and making minute changes to their routines at a sports school in Chon Buri, some 60 kms from Pattaya, since September 6. That 10-day camp, which concluded on Sunday, left national coach VIjay Sharma with a few thoughts. He believes Mirabai Chanu can lift a national record and be in medal contention at the upcoming World Championships, beginning in Pattaya on Wednesday.
Chanu, whose personal best in the 49kg division is 199kg, has been lifting 203kg in training according to Sharma. “I think she can do 203kg here,” he told this newspaper. “She is fully fit, has been very focussed in training and preparations in the camp went of well. It is my belief that she will do better than she did at the Asian Championships.” At the Asian meet in China in April, Chanu lifted 199kg to finish fourth.
The 2017 world champion in the 48kg class is so confident that she has set her entry at 200kg, a weight she has never lifted in a competitive environment. Even then, the competition will be tough because of the presence of China’s Jiang Huihua and Hou Zhihui. The latter won gold at the Asian event with a lift of 208kg. And considering both of them have set their start weight at 210kgs, Chanu will have her work cut out.
Among other lifters to have made the trip to Thailand, Sharma is optimistic about the prospect of Jhilli Dalabehera in the 45kg division. A junior Worlds bronze medallist, the 20-year-old has the ‘capacity to upset the odds on her day’, according to Sharma. “She has lfited good weights in training. I am optimistic.”
One lifter who he isn’t optimistic about, at least in the short run, is Jeremy Lalrinnunga, the Youth Olympic Games gold medallist. Lalrinnunga, competing in the 67 kg category, should use the meet to gain ‘valuable experience’. “Him winning a medal will be impossible,” Sharma said of the 16-year-old. “Even though he is very young, we are making him compete at the senior level so that he can gain experience from such an environment. We are hoping he can lift 305kgs and also get some valuable points which will be useful because of the qualifying system for the Olympics.”
That’s the underlying subplot for all the lifters — even if the Worlds doesn’t offer an automatic route to Tokyo, performing well at a gold-level qualifying event will help their chances.
Squad: Men: Jeremy Lalrinnunga (67kg), Achinta Sheuli (73kg), Ajay Singh (81kg). Women: Mirabai Chanu (49kg), Jhilli Dalabehera (45kg), Sneha Soren (55kg), Rakhi Halder (64kg).