Thaindian News

London, July 19 (IANS) Indian weightlifting coach Devi Dutt Sharma Thursday said his two-member team can spring a surprise at the London Olympics beginning here next week.

“I will not like to talk big but the fact is that K. Ravi Kumar (69 Kg) and Soniya Chanu (48 kg) have qualified to be here and it is no mean achievement,” said the coach.

He said Ravi’s best show in training has been 147Kg in snatch and 185Kg in clean and jerk.

“I know that performing in training and reproducing the same form in the Olympics are two different things but most of the times lifters do come up or better their own performance when the world is watching.”

Sharma was of the view that Ravi Kumar has enough international exposure to cope with the pressure of performing at the Olympics.

“He finished fourth at the 2010 Asian games and the good thing is that there are no expectations from him.

“It all depends how he fares in the six attempts - three each in snatch and clean and jerk - and a lot will depend upon how much he lifts in clean and jerk because that is the toughest part.”

Ravi will be among the 22 participants vying for the medal and according to Sharma, lifters from Albania, China and Turkey are the main contenders.

Ravi’s event is scheduled for July 31.

The first medal event of the Olympics is going to be the 48 kg in women’s weightlifting and Soniya Chanu will be in the field of 13.

“Soniya is one of the top lifters in the world. She is tough and if she performs to her potential, anything can happen,” he added.