Gururaj Pujari wins bronze medal at CWG 2022: Weightlifter Gururaj Poojary, the star athlete who won India's first medal in the 2018 Gold Coast, won a bronze medal in the men's 61 kg final with a combined lift of 269Kg to help India secure its second medal on Day 2 of the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. India had a dismal outing in CWG 202 as it did not win any medal on the first day of the Games on 29 July, but on the second day, Indian weightlifters opened the country's account.
Before Gururaj, 21-year-old weightlifter Sanket Sargar missed out on winning the gold by just one kilo as he opened India's account in the Commonwealth Games 2022 with a silver medal win. Sargar had sustained an injury while attempting a 138kg lift in his second attempt in the clean and jerk round.
Gururaj Poojary of Karnataka's Udupi district won his second consecutive medal in Commonwealth Games. The gold medal in this event was won by Malaysia's Aznil Bin Bidin Muhammad, who lifted a total of 285 kg in both rounds, setting a new record in the CWG.
Day 2 of CWG 2022 is expected to be even better and bigger for India as the country's biggest contenders in weightlifting are yet to compete. After these two men's events, today, fans have high hopes for a medal win from Indian weightlifters in two women's events.
India has high hopes from Tokyo Olympic silver medalist and former world champion Mirabai Chanu in the women's 49 kg category. Chanu is already considered a gold contender in this event and would like to repeat her 2018 performance. Apart from Mirabai, the other big contender is Bindiyarani Devi (55kg category).