21st Commonwealth Games: Sanjita Chanu hands India 2nd gold medal
Weightlifter Sanjita Chanu notched an impressive show in the 21st Commonwealth Games being held at Gold Coast. The Manipur athlete bagged a gold medal after dominating the 53kg event. This was her 2nd CWG career medal and most importantly both have been gold. In 2014 Glasgow Games, she had won the gold in the 48kg event.
Sanjita pips defending champion besides setting record
Sanjita pipped Commonwealth Games defending champion Loa Dika Toua of Papua New Guinea. Toua claimed silver with a total lift of 182kg which was way lower than Chanu's 192kg. The 24-year-old Indian athlete also broke the CWG record with a lift of 84kg in the snatch category. She then lifted 108kg in clean and jerk. Canada's Rachel Leblanc-Bazinet won the bronze medal.
Sanjita's tryst with CWG record
She switched to the 53kg category after participating in the 48kg segment in Glasgow 2014. In her three snatch attempts, she began with a lift of 81kg. She equalled the CWG record of 83kg in the next attempt. She then went on to set a new record by lifting 84kg . The previous record in CWG was set by India's Swarti Singh in 2014.
Manipur weightlifters in a world of their own
After Mirabai Chanu's gold medal in the 48kg category on Thursday, Sanjita now rose to prominence. In 2014 too, the duo had won medals when a 20-year-old Sanjita had overcome Mirabai for the gold.
