India’s Gururaja wins silver in the men’s 56kg weightlifting event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, thus handing India its first medal at the quadrennial event on the opening day.
After lifting his best weight of 111kg in the snatch, the 28-year-old added 138kg in his third attempt in the clean and jerk to end with a total lift of 249kg – achieving his personal best.
Malaysia’s Muhammad Izhar Ahmad won gold with a total lift of 261kg – a Commonwealth Games record – while bronze went to Sri Lanka’s Chaturanga Lakmal (248kg).
In 2017, Gururaja had claimed a Commonwealth Championships bronze in Australia.
The first medal for India
We have our first medal. Many congratulations to GURURAJA for coming second and winning? #Medal at the @GC2018 lifting total weight of 249kg in the Men’s 56kg event! Super proud of you Gururaja !#GC2018Weightlifting pic.twitter.com/gde39VMfoZ
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 5, 2018
An employee of the Indian Air Force, Gururaja, who began weightlifting in 2010, had won gold in the Commonwealth senior weightlifting championship, lifting a personal best of 249kg (108+141) in Penang in 2016. Earlier that year, he won gold at the South Asian Games.
He hails from Kundapura in coastal Karnataka and started out as a wrestler before switching to powerlifting and then weightlifting.
Also read : CG 2018 : Watch out for these Indian athletes
