Harjinder wins silver as India bag seventh CWG weightlifting medal

India’s Harjinder Kaur produced a sensational performance to win the women’s 69kg weightlifting silver medal at the Commonwealth Games, breaking the Games records in both the snatch and clean and jerk here on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old, who had won a bronze medal in the higher 71 kg category at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, delivered one of the finest performances of her career to earn India its seventh weightlifting medal of the Games. In the process, she rewrote her personal best in all three categories — snatch, clean and jerk, and total— underlining the remarkable progress she has made over the last four years.

A native of Nabha in Punjab, the 5ft 3in lifter was flawless in the snatch competition, successfully completing all three attempts. She opened with a comfortable 96kg before raising the bar to 99kg and then 101kg, with her last two lifts rewriting the Games record and giving her confidence heading into the clean and jerk.

Harjinder continued her record-breaking spree in the clean and jerk, first lifting 120kg with ease before bettering the Games mark with successful attempts of 123kg and 126kg. Her combined effort of 227 kg was also a personal best and comfortably secured the silver medal.

Despite her outstanding display, Harjinder came up against an exceptional performance from Canada’s Charlotte Simoneau, who proved to be in a class of her own. The 20-year-old shattered the Games records in every category, lifting 108 kg in the snatch and 132 kg in the clean and jerk for a combined total of 240 kg — also a new Commonwealth Games record — to finish 13kg ahead of the Indian.

Simoneau displayed supreme confidence throughout the competition and employed smart tactics to stay ahead. She entered the snatch at 104kg, skipped the lower weights and successfully lifted 104kg and 108kg before narrowly failing at 111kg. Even then, she carried a healthy seven kg cushion over Harjinder into the clean and jerk. The Canadian continued in similar fashion in the second discipline. While Harjinder opened at 120kg, Simoneau started directly at 127kg, signalling her dominance. She then successfully lifted 132kg to extend her advantage before narrowly missing 135kg in her final attempt. By then, however, she had already secured the gold while rewriting the Games records in the snatch, clean and jerk and total.

Harjinder’s silver further strengthened India’s impressive campaign in weightlifting, with the contingent continuing to establish itself as one of the strongest teams at the Commonwealth Games.

Indian weightlifters have now collected seven medals at the Games — one gold, five silver and one bronze — underlining the country’s depth and sustained excellence in the sport on the Commonwealth stage.

Earlier, debutant Nirupama Devi endured a forgettable campaign, managing just one successful lift from six attempts as she failed to register a total in the women’s 63kg weightlifting competition here on Tuesday. The 25-year-old looked out of rhythm throughout the evening, completing only a 93kg snatch in an error-strewn performance.

After a successful 93kg lift, which came in her second attempt, Nirupama could not improve her mark, failing in her next two attempts at the same weight and then 95kg to finish fifth after the snatch phase. Needing a strong clean and jerk to climb into medal contention, she opted for an ambitious opening attempt of 123 kg. She cleaned the weight but failed to generate enough drive to lock the barbell overhead. Her personal best is 126 kg.

Backed by loud cheers from her Indian teammates, Nirupama returned for a second attempt at the same weight. Once again, she managed to clean it but lost control while attempting the jerk, with the bar crashing behind her.

Under immense pressure to stay in the competition and keep her bronze hopes alive, Nirupama made one final attempt at 123 kg. But the outcome remained unchanged as she failed to complete the lift, leaving her without a total.