Junior World Weightlifting Championships: Jeremy Lalrinnunga chases Tokyo berth - watch live

Jeremy Lalrinnunga (67kg) and Achinta Sheuli (73kg) will represent India at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships 2021, to be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from May 23 to 31.

The four-member Indian contingent, including two coaches, flew to Tashkent on May 18 and has been preparing for the upcoming competition.

Since Indian weightlifting’s head coach Vijay Sharma is overseeing Olympic-bound women’s lifter Mirabai Chanu’s training in the USA, Pramod Sharma and Vijai Rohilla are the coaches with the junior lifters at Tashkent.

The event is particularly important for Jeremy Lalrinnunga. The 2018 Youth Olympics champion is preparing for his final bid to earn a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.

Weightlifting qualification to Tokyo is based on International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) rankings and Jeremy Lalrinnunga is in 26th position in his weight division. To qualify for Tokyo, the Indian weightlifter needs to leapfrog South Korea’s Myeongmok Han, who is in 20th place.

The 2021 Junior World Weightlifting Championships is a Gold Level ranking event and the final one within the Olympics qualification window.

To give himself a chance, Jeremy Lalrinnunga needs to lift at least 310kgs at the Tashkent event.

The feat requires the 18-year-old to better his personal best of 306kg (140kg in snatch and 166kg in clean and jerk), which he set at the Qatar International Cup in Doha in 2019.

The Mizo lifter will also look to overcome a knee injury he suffered during the Asian championships last month. It impacted Jeremy’s performance at the event, where he finished eighth.

Maharashtra’s Achinta Sheuli, a 2019 Commonwealth championships gold medallist, meanwhile, will be looking to better his seventh-placed finish from the Asian championships.

The 19-year-old Achinta lifted 309kg (snatch 139kg + clean and jerk 170kg) falling well short of gold medallist Shi Zhiyong’s lift of 363kg (snatch 169kg + clean and jerk 194kg).

Indian team for Junior World Weightlifting Championships 2021

Men

67kg: Jeremy Lalrinnunga

73kg: Achinta Sheuli

Junior World Weightlifting Championships 2021 schedule for Indian weightlifters and live India start times

All timings are in India Standard Time (IST)

Tuesday, May 25

Men’s 67kg (Jeremy Lalrinnunga) - 12:30 PM IST onwards

Wednesday, May 26

Men’s 73kg (Achinta Sheuli) - 10:30 AM IST onwards

Where to watch Junior World Weightlifting Championships 2021 live in India?

Live streaming of the Junior World Weightlifting Championships 2021 live will be available on the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) official Facebook page.