Purnima Pandey wins gold at Commonwealth Championship

PTI, Dec 17, 2021, 11:00 AM IST

Tashkent: Indian lifter Purnima Pandey created eight national records on the way to a gold in the women’s +87kg category at the Commonwealth Championships here on Thursday.

Purnima lifted 229kg (102kg+127kg) to stand on top of the podium and directly qualify for the Commonwealth Games next year. Purnima created eight national records, two in the snatch section and three each in clean and jerk and total category.

Lovepreet Singh lifted 348kg (161kg+187kg) to win the silver in the men’s 109kg event.

The Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championship bronze medallist created three national records in the snatch section, and one each in the clean and jerk and total here.

In the women’s 87kg event, Anuradha Pavunraj bagged the bronze medal with a total effort of 195kg (90kg+105kg). The Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships also serve as a qualifying event for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The gold medallists in each weight category in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships directly qualify for the 2022 and the rest will qualify through Commonwealth rankings.