Commonwealth champion weightlifter Ajaya Babu Valluri finished 16th in the men’s 79kg class as Indians failed to impress at the World Championships after Mirabai Chanu’s 48kg silver medal. The 20-year-old Ajaya lifted a total of 323kg (146kg snatch + 177kg clean and jerk) to finish 16th overall among 39 competitors on Monday.
His performance was 12kg short of his gold medal-winning total of 335kg (152kg + 183kg) at the Commonwealth Weight-lifting Championships in Ahmedabad in August. He had sealed his qualification for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow by virtue of the win in Ahmedabad. Indonesia’s Rizki Juniansyah logged a clean and jerk world record of 204kg after his 162kg in snatch for a total of 361kg. He had won gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics in 73kg.
North Korea’s Ri Chong-song won the silver with a total lift of 360kg (163kg +197kg) while Egypt’s Mohamed Younes took the bronze on countback after matching the same total of 360kg (162kg+198kg). On Sunday, India’s Ajith Narayana and Seram Nirupama Devi finished identical ninth in the men’s 71kg and women’s 63kg categories respectively.
The 26-year-old Narayana lifted a total of 320kg -- 145kg in snatch and 175kg in clean and jerk to finish ninth among 26 competitors on Monday. He had won gold at the Commonwealth Weight-lifting Championships in Ahmedabad in August with a total of 317kg (145kg + 172kg), sealing qualification for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Paris Olympics gold medallist Weeraphon Wichuma of Thailand won the gold with a world record total lift of 346kg (152kg+194kg), while the silver went to Miyamoto Masanori of Japan who lifted 345kg (152kg+193kg).
He Yueji of China took the bronze with 344kg total lift which included a world record snatch of 160kg, and clean and jerk of 184kg. The 25-year-old Devi finished ninth in the women’s 63kg field of 35 as she lifted a total of 216kg (93kg+123kg). She had won a silver at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Ahmedabad.
The gold was won by Ri Suk of North Korea with a total lift of 253kg (111kg+142kg). Charron Maude of Canada took the silver with 236kg (103kg+133kg), and Sinisterra Torres Yenny of Colombia the bronze with 231kg (103kg+128kg). Former champion Mirabai Chanu had won a silver on the opening day with a total lift of 199kg (84kg in snatch + 115kg in clean and jerk) in women’s 48kg category.