Kolkata: Indian weightlifters Sivalingam Satish Kumar and Ragala Venkat Rahul qualified for the 2018 Commonwealth Games after winning gold medals in their respective divisions at the Commonwealth and Ocenia Senior (men & women) Weightlifting Championships held at the Gold Coast, Australia.
Satish who won gold in the 2014 Commonwealth Games lifted 148kg in snatch and 172kg in clean and jerk in the competition, to produce a total effort of 320kg in the 77kg category.
Rahul who also qualified lifted a total of 351kg in both junior and senior men’s categories. He lifted 156kg in snatch and 195 in clean and jerk creating several new records en route to the gold medal.
Talking about the win, Satish said, “I targeted the top spot in this tournament and I am happy to have qualified for the CWG next year. While I am pleased with my performance, there is always a scope for improvement.”
“In the last one year, I began to lay a lot of emphasis on cross-training and not just on weight training alone. Qualifying for CWG is special since I did well in the last edition back in 2014,” he added.
Other Indians in the foray participating in the junior and youth sections also performed well. In the junior men’s division, Ajay Singh lifted a total of 310kg (140kg and 170kg) to win the gold medal.
In the youth boys category, Ragala Varun claimed the gold after lifting a total effort of 269kg (124kg and 145kg). Abhishek Poonia participating in the same division won the bronze as he lifted 113kg in snatch and 143kg in clean and jerk, with a combined effort of 256 kg.
The women participants were no less as they won as many as two gold medals in their divisions. S Nirupama Devi (junior women’s 69kg) and Nikeeta Kale (youth girls 69kg) won the laurels. While Nikeeta finished with a combined total of 163kg (73kg + 90kg) Nirupama lifted a total weight of 178kg (77kg + 101kg) to finish on a high.