Asian Weightlifting Championships 2022: Harshada Garud wins bronze, Jhilli Dalabehera misses out

Indian weightlifter Harshada Garud, a reigning junior world champion, won a bronze medal in the women’s 45kg category at the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2022 in Manama, Bahrain on Saturday.

Harshada Garud lifted 68kg in snatch and followed it up with the best effort of 84kg in clean and jerk for a combined total of 152kg. It was her first major medal at the senior level.

The 18-year-old Indian weightlifter was tied with the Philippines' Rose Ramos on 152kg but won the medal as she had a better snatch lift of 68kg, for which she was awarded a bronze in the section. 

Medals are awarded separately for snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift at the continental championships unlike the Olympics, where the medals are only awarded for total lift.

Vietnam’s Khong My Phuong took the gold with a total lift of 166kg (78kg snatch + 88kg clean and jerk) and S Nafisatul Hariroh of Indonesia won silver with 162kg (71kg + 91kg).

Earlier in July, Harshada Garud came up with an effort of 157kg to win the gold at the  Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championship. She had also scripted history in May by becoming the first Indian woman weightlifter to win a gold medal at the IWF Junior World Championships.

In the women’s 49kg, defending champion Jhilli Dalabehera came fourth with a combined lift of 171kg (77kg+94kg) followed by her compatriot Gyaneshwari Yadav, a world junior silver medallist, who came fifth with a personal best of 171kg (76kg+95kg).

Turkmenistan’s Yulduz Jumabayeva claimed bronze with a total effort of 172kg (75kg+97kg). China’s Wang Jiali won gold with a combined lift of 186kg (81kg+105kg) while Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Jing Lin bagged silver with a 181kg (79kg+102kg) attempt.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu is not competing at the continental meet. The Asian Weightlifting Championships 2022 will conclude on October 16.