New Delhi: India ended a 28-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the Asian Games on Wednesday, with Mirabai Chanu finishing second in the women’s 49kg category.
The 32-year-old lifted a total of 198kg, including 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk. Chanu won her first Asian Games medal with the performance.
Karnam Malleswari had last won a weightlifting medal for India at the Asian Games in 1998, when she claimed silver.
Chanu has previously won medals at major competitions including the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships.
The medal was India’s fourth on the fourth day of the Games. Two of the medals came in the shotgun shooting skeet team events. The women’s team of Raiza Dhillon, Parinaz Dhaliwal and Maheshwari Chauhan finished third with 331 points.
In the men’s event, Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill defeated Kazakhstan in the shoot-off to win bronze.
India’s other medal came in soft tennis, with Jai Meena winning a medal.
Manu Bhaker finished fifth in the women’s 10m pistol event after scoring 181.1 points in the final. India narrowly missed out on a medal in the team event in the same category.
Bhaker, Esha and Suruchi combined for 1,719 points, equal to the score of third-placed Vietnam. However, India missed out on the bronze medal.
