Bindyarani Devi, an Indian weightlifter, quickly made up for a lacklustre showing in the snatch segment by winning an overall silver medal in the women’s 55kg division at the Asian Championships in Korea on Saturday.
Bindyarani Devi, an Indian weightlifter, quickly made up for a lacklustre showing in the snatch segment by winning an overall silver medal in the women’s 55kg division at the Asian Championships in Korea on Saturday. The silver medalist from the Commonwealth Games led India’s medal tally in this competition with a total effort of 194kg (83kg 111kg). In the clean and jerk category, she also took home the silver. The medals, nevertheless, are for a non-Olympic weight class.
The Manipuri failed two lifts, one in snatch and the other in clean jerk. Even if she had succeeded in those two lifts, a gold medal would not have been within her reach.
Chinese Taipei’s Chen Guan Ling won the gold with a 204 kg (90 kg) effort, and Vietnam’s Vo Thi Quynh Nhu won the bronze in a weak field with a 192 kg (88 kg) effort.
To qualify for the Paris Games the following year, the best 55 kg lifters have either gained weight or dropped weight classes.
Bindyarani got off to a good start, completing her first two snatch attempts of 80 kg and 83 kg with very little difficulty, but her 85 kg effort was ruled a no lift. 86kg is her personal best weight for snatch.
The Manipuri, who finished fourth in the snatch competition, made up distance by snatching the second-heaviest weight.
She then made an unsuccessful attempt to lift an additional 115 kg to raise her score. At the Birmingham CWG last year, she had 116 kg in the air.
Due to an injury she suffered before the selection trials, the Manipuri was obliged to compete in her original 55kg weight group.
She had switched to the 59kg weight class at the World Championships last year, when she placed 25th, and this weight class will be included in the Paris Olympics.
A lifter must compulsorily compete in both the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup in order to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
A lifter must compete in three of the following extra competitions in addition to the two mentioned above: the 2022 World Championships, 2023 Continental Championships, 2023 Grand Prix I, 2023 Grand Prix II, and 2024 Continental Championships.
Both Mirabai Chanu and Bindyarani must now participate in one more event in addition to the two required ones, having already competed here and in the World Championships last year.
At the conclusion of the qualification period, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will announce the Olympic Qualification Rating (OQR) for each weight category.
For final evaluation, the weightlifter’s top three results from the qualifying competitions will be considered.
