Thaindian News

New Delhi. Oct. 5 (ANI): Indian weightlifter Soniya Chanu, who won silver medal in the 48-kilograms women’s weightlifting category on the first day of the Commonwealth Games, is dejected since she failed to win the Gold for the country.

Chanu said on Tuesday that she thought she could have performed better.

Asked if it happened due to lack of practice, Chanu denied it saying, “No, there was no lack of practice. I just did not perform the way I used to while practicing. If I would have done it like I practiced, I would have bagged a gold medal. And out of six lifts, I could pass only two and I ruined it all.”

India won its first set of medals in the 48-kilograms women’s weightlifting category, when Chanu clinched the silver and Sandhya Rani Devi bagged the bronze on Monday.

Nigerian Augustina Nwaokolo won the gold in the event and set a Commonwealth Games record by lifting a total weight of with 175 kg with 77 kilograms in snatch and 98 kilograms in the clean-and-jerk section.

Chanu lifted 167 kg as a whole, where she lifted 73 kilograms in snatch and 94 kilograms in the clean and jerk section.

Indian weightlifting coach Harman Singh, however, termed the incident of missing the gold medal as “hard luck”.

“We promised that we are going to get a gold through Soniya, but by bad luck, we have missed the medal and it is our hard luck that we have missed the medal. We were very, very sure to get a medal here. We don’t have any problem in anything, about preparations we are very much correct. But this is our bad luck that we have missed it,” said Singh.

He also added that there was no lack of preparations at the lifter’s end.

“As I have mentioned earlier, our performance and preparations are very good. If these kids pass as many lifts as they do while practicing, we all will be getting medals in all the categories,” added Singh. (ANI)