CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu weightlifter Narayana Ajith might have won a gold medal in the men's 71kg and set records at the ongoing Commonwealth Championships in Ahmedabad on Wednesday but he is not satisfied with his performance. The 26-year-old lifter's best lift in snatch was 145kg. In the clean and jerk section, he lifted 172kg to complete an overall lift of 317kg and finish on the top. But it was way below what he was lifting during training.
"I started feeling the pressure once I climbed up the platform," Ajith, who hails from Sathuvachari village of the Vellore district, told this daily. He was expecting to lift a total of around 327kg but ended up heaving 10kg less. "Maybe because it was an international event and I was expecting a lot from myself that eventually put pressure on me. It also led to a dip in confidence," the lifter added.
It was visible when Ajith lifted 145kg in his first snatch attempt but could not succeed in his next two attempts. He tried to lift 148kg in the second attempt and increased it to 150kg in the third and last attempt but could not complete the lift. It continued in the clean and jerk section as he successfully heaved 172kg in the first attempt but failed to take it further in his next two attempts. Overall, he could only successfully lift twice — one each in snatch and clean and jerk sections.
It also meant Nigeria's Edidiong Joseph Umoafia came close to defeating the Indian weightlifter but had to settle for silver losing the contest by just one kilogram. The Nigerian lifted 316kg (146+170). He completed two attempts each in snatch and clean and jerk. He succeeded in overtaking Ajith in the snatch section but could not repeat the show in the clean and jerk where the Indian had picked two kilograms more than his best attempt. Nauru's Ezekiel Moses won bronze, managing a total of 290kg (135kg snatch + 155kg clean & jerk).
Ajith, who has changed his division from 73kg to 71kg after the International Weightlifting Federation revised the weight categories in June this year, had won a gold in the 2023 Commonwealth Championships in 73kg. "Reducing the body weight by two kilograms and maintaining your performance is difficult. But I have to lift between 335 and 340 kilograms if I wish to win a medal at the World Championships scheduled in October. I still have a month to train hard and improve my performance," he added.
Silver for Nirupama
Nirupama Devi Seram won a silver medal in the women's 63kg. She lifted a total weight of 217kg (91+126) to finish behind Canada's Maude Charron, who dished out a record-breaking effort to claim gold. Nigeria's Ruth Imoleayo Ayodele completed the podium with the bronze medal.
The hosts also bagged two gold medals in the junior categories on the day. Hemanta Doimari (men) and Bidusmita Bhoi (women) topped their respective weight categories of 71kg and 63kg to walk away with a yellow metal each. Hemanta claimed the gold with a total of 264kg (118+146) while Bhoi overcame a slow start to secure the top prize with 204kg (89+).
With inputs from Agencies
