Mirabai Chanu, Jeremy Lalrinnunga crowned best lifters at Senior National Weightlifting Championships

Kolkata: Chandrakant Mali of Services smashed three records to take the concluding day honours even as Railways reigned supreme, grabbing both the men’s and women’s trophies at the Senior National Weightlifting Championships on Friday. Former world champion Mirabai Chanu, who had shattered three records to win women’s 49kg title, was adjudged the Best Senior Women’s Lifter with 865.796 ‘Robi points’. [caption id=“attachment_4419791” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Mirabai Chanu. Reuters[/caption] Youth Olympic champion Jeremy Lalrinnunga, who created a record in clean and jerk on way to winning the men’s 67kg for Services, became the Best Senior Men’s Lifter with 658.962 ‘Robi points’. ‘Robi Points’ is the official IWF calculation method to compare individual athlete total results across each of the IWF bodyweight categories. 32-year-old Mali, who had won a bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, hoisted a total of 330kg, thereby improving the previous mark of Ankit Chhoker (Railways) by 6kg. Mali lifted 149kg in snatch, bettering Chhoker’s record by 1kg, while he was at his best in clean and jerk where he improved the record by 5kg with his effort of 181kg in his first attempt. Chhoker finished second with a total lift of 316, while his Railways colleague VA Christopher had a third-place finish. But the Indian Railways reigned supreme winning both the men’s and women’s titles accumulating 246 and 232 points respectively. Services finished men’s runners-up (232), while Maharashtra took the second place in women’s section with 202 points. 41 National records were created in the five-day meet where 419 lifters in both the men’s and women’s sections vied for top honours. Results: Men’s 109kg: Chandrakant Mali (SSCB) (149+181=330); Ankit Chhoker (RSPB) (144+172=316); VA Christopher (RSPB) (140+176=316). Men’s +109kg: Gurdeep Singh (RSPB) (162+205=367); Vipan Kumar (SSCB) (158+205=363); Jaspreet Singh (AIPSCB) (156+185=341).