The Former world champion weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu notched up the women’s 49kg category gold medal to open India’s account at the 6th Qatar International Cup in Doha on Friday (December 20). The weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won gold with an effort of 194kg in the Olympic qualifying event, the points from which will come in handy when the final rankings for Tokyo 2020 cut are done.
However, it was a performance way below her personal best of 201kg. The 2018 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, who managed to register only one clean lift in both the snatch and clean and jerk categories. The 24-year-old Manipuri lifted 83kg in snatch and 111kg in clean and jerk to finish on top of the podium.
Earlier this year, at the world championship, Weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu had breached the much-anticipated 200 kg mark by lifting her personal best in all three sections. In the snatch, she lifted 87 kg followed by 114 kg in clean and jerk for a total of 201 kg. China’s Jiang Huihua (212 kg) had won the gold. The Manipuri weightlifter had also clinched the gold medal in 49 kg at the EGAT Cup, which was the first of the six Olympic qualifying events for her.