CHENNAI: Indian lifter Achinta Sheuli produced his personal best in all three events and smashed three senior national records and four junior national records to clinch silver in the 73kg at the IWF Junior World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Wednesday. The lifter from West Bengal lifted a total of 313kg (141kg in snatch and 172kg in clean and jerk) to finish on the podium at the gold level Olympic qualifier event.
“The aim was to do better than the Asian Championships held here last month and fortunately enough, I managed to do that and also win a medal for the country,” the 19-year-old told this daily from Tashkent. He had lifted 309kg (139kg+170kg) to finish seventh at the Asian event.
Indonesia’s Rizki Juniansyah lifted a total of 349kg (155kg+194kg) to break the junior world record in all three events and win the gold medal in the 73kg weight category. Russian lifter Gevorg Serobian claimed the bronze with the total effort of 308kg (143kg+165kg). “He has improved a lot over the years. We have always seen him as a potential medallist in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and this medal indicates that we are moving in the right direction,” said Vijay Sharma, chief weightlifting coach.
Achinta lifted 137kg in his first snatch attempt but failed to lift 141kg in the next. He, however, lifted the weight successfully in his third attempt to bag bronze. In clean and jerk, he lifted 166kg, 169kg and 172kg in three attempts respectively to finish second overall. Medals are awarded separately for snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift in continental and World Championships. However, only one medal — for total lift — is awarded at the Olympics.
“These youngsters are very disciplined. Despite lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic and distractions all around, they never went astray. They know their eventual goal and for that, they need to remain focussed. Jeremy did good despite knee injury and today (Wednesday), Achinta medalled. These are good signs for Indian weightlifting,” said coach Pramod Kumar Sharma, who accompanied the team to the event.