Picture Credit: Twitter
Weightlifter Bindyarani Devi won a silver medal in the women's 55kg event at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Jinju (Korea) on May 6. Devi’s total effort consisted of 194 kg (83kg + 111kg). She started the competition by clearing 80kg in the snatch event, before raising it to 83kg in her second attempt. She was unable to clear the 85kg-mark she had set for herself in the third lift.
Bindyarani covered up her underwhelming snatch performance by lifting the second-highest weight in clean and jerk to take home the silver in this category. In the clean and jerk, she cleared her first two lifts of 109kg and 111kg, respectively before failing to get a lift in her 115kg attempt. The 111kg was the second best of that section. Chen Guang Ling of China won the gold with a total of 204kg (90kg+114kg) effort while Vietnam's Vo Thi Quynh Nhu settled with a bronze.
The 24-year-old switched back to her original 55kg weight division for this event due to an injury she had sustained ahead of the selection trials. Bindyarani had moved to the 59kg weight class that features in the Paris Olympics, during last year’s World Championships, where she finished 25th. However, the medals are in a non-Olympic weight category. Earlier to the tournament Bindyarani’s coach had mentioned that her goal was only to participate in the event as she is coming back from an injury. The event was a part of the race for Olympic qualification and the International Weightlifting Association will release the Olympic qualification rating at the end of the qualification period.
