CHENNAI: After Karnam Malleswari’s historic bronze at the Sydney Olympics 16 years ago, weightlifting was considered one of the fields where India could harvest more medals.
However, a spate of doping cases, especially during the Athens Olympics in 2004, when Sanamacha Chanu and Pratima Kumari tested positive, saw the sport plunge into darkness. The nadir came when the whole federation was banned just before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
The prospects of weightlifters have improved of late, especially after the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, yet until now, no lifter has qualified for the Rio Olympics. For the federation, anything between two and three quota places would be more than welcome, and with this objective in mind, a ten-member squad travels to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, looking to make waves. The April 21-30 tourney will be the last to secure a berth for the quadrennial extravaganza.
“I’m extremely happy with the way things have gone at the training camp in Patiala. Lifters started their routine there a month back and they have all done well in the lead up. The way things have gone, I’m confident we’ll have people boarding the flight to Rio,” said Indian Weightlifting Federation president Birendra Prasad Baishya.
Former lifter Kunjarani Devi, now a mentor to the Indian women’s team, felt competition would be tough. “This is an Olympic qualification event, so there is no doubt about the pedigree of talent on show. It won’t be easy for our wards, but I know they can do it. I can’t put a number on the people who will make the cut, but the lifters have won national medals to be here. So they should be able to come up with the best performance possible,” said the 2006 Commonwealth Games gold winner.
Baishya added that he was doing his best to set up a training base for the lifters in Rio, for a minimum of thirty days, before the start of the Olympics. “I have been keeping in touch with the Olympic Organisation Committee, and have made a request to let our lifters train in Rio in the period leading up to the Summer Games. While they have been positive in their response, nothing has been confirmed yet.
“The camp will be 30km from Rio. The facilities are top-notch, and food will also not be a problem. But we do have to submit this request to the government. Hopefully should clear it,” the MP added.
The first batch of lifters departed for Tashkent on Tuesday, and Kunjarani will accompany the second batch that leaves on April 22. Sathish Sivalingam, who has been out of action for a while, will lead the charge. Coming out of nowhere, the Vellore lad clinched gold in Glasgow, that too in record fashion.
But food poisoning led to his withdrawal from the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, where he was one of the expected medallists. And the 23-year-old will target a Rio berth to make up for lost time.
Squad
Men: Dipak Ramesh Mahajan (56kg), Gopal Anbarasu (62kg), Sambo Lapung (69kg), Sathish Sivalingam (77kg), Vikas Thakur (85kg), Ragala Venkat Rahul (94kg), Pardeep Singh (105kg), Gurdeep Singh (+105kg), Jaspreet Singh (+105kg).
Women: K Sanjita Chanu (48kg), Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (48kg), Sagolsem Thasana Chanu (58kg), Punam Yadav (63kg), Rakhi Halder (69kg), Kavita Devi (75kg), Sushila Panwar (+75kg).
National coach: Vijay Sharma.Chief coach (women): N Kunjarani Devi.