16 Indian weightlifters qualify for Commonwealth Games 2018
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The International Weightlifting Federation's publication of the Commonwealth rankings has shown that 16 Indian weightlifters have qualified for next yearâs 2018 Commonwealth Games. Last time at the 2014 Glasgow Games, the Indian weight-lifting contingent had bagged 12 medals, including three gold.
S Sathish Kumar and KÂ Sanjita Chanu - gold medalists of the last edition - will be looking forward to repeating their performances during the 2018 event to be held in Australia in April. On the other hand, Sukhen Dey, who had won a gold medal in menâs 56kg category in Glasgow, has failed to qualify for this edition.
Gururaja will represent India in the 56 kg category while Sanjita, who had won the gold in womenâs 48kg, has climbed up a weight division and will be competing in 53kg.Â
In the menâs category, Sathish and Vikas Thakur are the only two players who were in the squad in the last edition. Thakur had bagged a silver medal in 85kg but this time, he will take part in the 94kg category.
In the women category, Sanjita, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, Punam Yadav and Vandana Gupta, who played in the last edition, made the cut. Chanu had won a silver in 48kg, while Punam finished with a bronze in 69kg last year.
Squad:
Men: Gururaja (56kg), Muthupandi Raja (62kg), Deepak Lather (69kg), S Sathish Kumar (77kg), Ragala Venkat Rahul (85kg), Vikas Thakur (94kg), Pardeep Singh (105kg) and Gurdeep Singh (+105kg).
Women: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (48kg), Kh Sanjita Chanu (53kg), Saraswati Rout (58kg), Vandna Gupta (63kg), Punam Yadav (69kg), Seema (75kg), Lalchhanhimi (90kg) and Purnima Pandey (+90kg).
