Commonwealth Games 2022: India Opens Medal Account As Sanket Lifts Silver

s first medal Sanket Mahadev Sargar wins silver in men’s 55kg weightlifting, gets India’s first medal in Commonwealth Games 2022

Birmingham: India opened its account in the Commonwealth Games 2022 courtesy of Sanket Mahadev Sargar here on Saturday.

On the second day of competition, Sanket bagged a silver medal in men’s 55kg weightlifting event with a total lift of 248 kg (113 + 135).

It was disappointing in a sense for Sanket, who looked to be on course for gold. However, he suffered an injury during his second attempt of clean and jerk round while going for 139 kg. The 21-year-old weightlifter returned to attempt a 139 kg lift in his final effort of clean and jerk, but could not carry the load because of his weak right elbow.

Malaysia’s Bin Kasdan Mohamad Aniq lifted a Commonwealth Games clean and jerk record of 142 kg in his final attempt to claimed gold medal with a total lift of 249 kg (107+142), pipping the Indian by just 1 kg.

Sanket’s best lift in clean and jerk came in his first attempt as the Maharashtra-born lifter managed 135 kg.

As for snatch, Sanket went from strength to strength. He successfully lifted 107 kg in his first attempt, then 111 and followed those up with 113 kg in his third attempt.

Sanket was among the favourites after having claimed gold in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent last December, when he managed 113 kg in snatch to rewrite the national record.