Mirabai Chanu Pulls off from World Championship and Commonwealth Senior Championship

Must read

Veteran weightlifter and the Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu is not going to participate in the upcoming World Championship and the Commonwealth Senior Championship, scheduled to take place simultaneously between December 7 and 17 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The 27-year old Indian athlete bagged a silver medal in the women’s 49kg category in the latest edition of the Olympics in Tokyo. She is also the former World Champion and the World record holder in the clean and jerk event in the 49kg category.

Chanu decided to withdraw her name from the two events following the advice of India head coach Vijay Sharma. Sharma clarified, “Our main aim (for the World Championship and Commonwealth Senior Championship) is that the lifters qualify for next year’s Commonwealth Games.”

“We had sent Mira’s entry but her performance is not very proper right now. We are working on her snatch technique a little. Her qualification (for CWG) is not an issue because she won the silver in the Olympics and she’s also ranked number one at the moment,” he added.

Despite holding a World record in the clean and jerk event, the Indian weightlifter lags in the snatch section and faced a hard time matching her Chinese opponent in the last year’s Asian Championship. In the same event, she heaved 119kg successfully in the clean and jerk event to make the World record.

The athlete has reported an imbalance affecting her right shoulder and back due to which she has struggled to lift the weight. Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, she had consulted former weight lifter and physical therapist Dr. Aaron Horschig which had helped her immensely in the games.

Last month, Chanu had revealed that she still faces issues while lifting heavyweight. She had said, “The issue is sorted, but sometimes, I still get pain in the right shoulder and back because of the imbalance. But there is a lot of improvement from before.”

However, Sharma has recently said, “She is not facing any problem but it’s just that we are thinking strategically which events to take part in and which to miss. She has been participating in competitions continuously since the past five years. We have prepared but it’s not enough for this event. She would have had to take extra load for this event so I advised her to miss it.”

The Commonwealth Senior Championship, which was originally scheduled to be held from October 20 to 24, was cancelled due to Covid19 concerns and, now, will be held simultaneously with the World Championship at the same venue.

In Chanu’s absence, Asia Championship gold medalist Jhilli Dalabehera, who formerly competed in the 45kg category, will represent Indian in Chanu’s 49kg category. 

Continue Reading on Spot Latest

- Advertisement -spot_img

More articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest article