Rankings have helped Mirabai, Jeremy seal Olympic berth, claims WFI
Mirabai Chanu has garnered 3,869.8038 qualifying points from five outings to sit fourth on IWF Tokyo 2020 rankings table.
Weightlifting Federation of India (WFI) president Sahdev Yadav believes that Indian weightlifters Mirabai Chanu and Jeremy Lalrinnunga have already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics because of their high-ranking points.
India’s ace weightlifter Mirabai Chanu is currently ranked fourth in the 49kg category on the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Tokyo 2020 ranking lists, while Jeremy Lalrinnunga sits 22nd in the 67kg category.
As per the Olympics qualification process, each weight category will have 14 lifters, with a maximum of one lifter per country per category.
Apart from the top eight lifters from the IWF rankings list in each category, the highest-ranked lifter in each of the five continents – Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe and Oceania – will also qualify.
And WFI president Sahdev Yadav is confident about two of the country’s best weightlifters making the Olympic cut as per the qualification norms.
“It is clear cut they make the grade as per the world rankings,” Sahdev Yadav told India Today.
“In the case of Jeremy, he is the top lifter in Asia. The second behind him lags by a huge number of ranking points, so even if he is going to make a world record in competitions later, it will not suffice,” Yadav added.
Plan going forward
Apart from Mirabai Chanu and Jeremy Lalrinnunga, Sahdev Yadav is confident of two more names making the Olympic cut.
“I am hopeful a few more Indians can qualify and we have high hopes from Rakhi Halder, who did well at the national championship. I am also hopeful about Ajay Singh. He can also make the cut.
“These two will have enough chances to qualify when the next competition cycle begins,” Yadav stated.