India’s chief national weightlifting coach, Vijay Sharma, has an onerous task at hand. While it’s difficult to replicate the team’s impressive show at this year’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games at the upcoming , he is expected to at least win some medals.
At Glasgow, India’s weightlifters won eight medals, one gold, six silver and one bronze.
Once again, led by Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu, Sharma is also banking on young lifters Gyaneshwari Yadav (23), Nirupama Seram (25), and Harjinder Kaur (27) to contribute to India’s medal tally at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan (September 19 to October 4).
Gyaneshwari Yadav, Harjinder Kaur and Nirupama Seram
India have not won a weightlifting medal at the Asian Games for over 25 years. The country’s last medal came at the 1998 Bangkok Games, where Karnam Malleswari won silver. This time, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has cleared an all-women, four-member team for the continental showpiece.
“We have four female players in our team for the Asian Games. All four girls have prepared well and I’m hoping we will come up with a good performance this time. We haven’t won a medal at the Asian Games for a long while. I am hoping this time we will get a medal,” Sharma told mid-day on the sidelines of the Indian Olympic Association’s send-off event for the 503-strong Indian contingent here on Tuesday.
Vijay Sharma
Specifically on Chanu’s preparations, Sharma said: “Her preparation has been good. The Asian Games competition will no doubt be tougher [than the CWG] — it’s almost Olympic-level competition. But our planning and preparations have been at the same level.”
Sharma also threw his weight behind the other young lifters who have shown promise at the CWG. “We are preparing our second line of players, who can get us medals after Mirabai. Gyaneshwari has done very well and we expect her to improve on her total at the Asian Games. We hope this way more weightlifters can qualify for the Olympics,” he said.
Sharma expects Chanu to face stiff competition in the 49kg category, particularly from North Korean and Chinese lifters.
“She will face stiff competition from lifters from North Korea and China. But we have competed against lifters from these countries regularly, so we hope to perform better,” said Sharma, adding that Chanu is physically fit, which has often been a concern, and insisted that the team will head to Japan high on confidence.