HANGZHOU: Mirabai Chanu's long wait for Asiad glory will continue after the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist and former world champion finished fourth in the women's 49kg weightlifting event following a bad fall in her third and final clean & jerk attempt, resulting in a thigh injury on Saturday.
Mirabai, who had skipped this year's World Championships to remain fit ahead of the Games, didn't look in her elements and failed to lift the desired weights which she had targeted before coming into the continental meet.
She struggled in the snatch section, lifting a low 83kg on her first legal lift. She went for 86kg on her second and third attempt but couldn't complete the lifts.
The diminutive Manipuri lifter looked in pain after her final attempt in snatch and went for a modest 108kg on her first lift in the clean & jerk. Under pressure from her Chinese and North Korean opponents, Mirabai went for a 117 kg heave on her next two attempts but ended up hurting herself after failing to clear both lifts.
During her final clean & jerk lift, Mirabai couldn't rise from her squat position and fell forward while the barbell rolled down backward. She was carried off by the Indian coaching staff. The Indian totalled 191kg (83kg+108kg) to finish on a disappointing note. Her personal best in snatch is 88kg and 119kg in the clean and jerk.
"When I was warming up before the snatch section, I felt pain on my thigh, I think deep sheathing hit me. I had trained hard but I could not bring the results because of this pain," she later said. Mirabai had missed the 2018 Asiad in Jakarta due to an injury.
North Korea's Ri Songgum won gold with a world record combined lift of 216kg (94kg+122kg), while local favourite Jiang Huihua, who broke Mirabai's clean & jerk (119kg) record with a lift of 120kg at the Saudi Arabia Worlds, finished with silver with a total of 213kg (94kg+119kg). Thailand's Thanyathon Sukcharoen lifted 199kg (90kg+109kg) for bronze.
Another Indian in the fray, Birmingham CWG silver medallist Bindyarani Devi, finished fifth in the women's 55kg. She managed a total lift of 196kg (83kg+113kg). North Korea's Hongyong Kang won gold with world record lifts each in snatch and clean & jerk. She totalled 233kg (103kg+130kg).
