Birmingham: As he lifted 139 kg in his second attempt at clean and jerk in the men’s 55kg weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games here on Saturday, India’s Sanket Mahadev Sargar clearly heard something snap in his arm. He could not complete the lift as pain shot through his arm to the entire body.
The diminutive lifter trudged back into the warmup area and had a chat with his coach before emerging for his third and final attempt at 139 kg. But the pain was too much and there was not enough time nor any attempt, to avoid being declared medically unfit to compete by the doctor, and Sanket bravely attempted to lift 139 and failed again.
The 22-year-old from Sangli district of Maharashtra The 22-year-old Sargar from Sangli district of Maharashtra lifted an aggregate of 248 kg but was pipped to the post by Malaysia’s Mohamad Aniq bin Kasdan, who came from behind to lift 142 kg in clean and jerk in his third and final attempt, taking his total to 249. The Malaysian lifted 107 in snatch before having 142 in clean and jerk for a Games Record total of 249. Sargar lifted 113 in snatch but could manage only 135 in clean and jerk. Sri Lanka’s D. Yodage claimed the bronze medal with a total of 225.
This could easily have been a gold medal for India as Sargar, who comes from a farming family, had started brilliantly in snatch and took a handy lead. He looked in control after lifting 135 in his first attempt in clean and jerk but failed at 139 in his next two attempts, injuring his right forearm during the second lift. He attended the medal ceremony with his hand in a cast and will go for a medical later.
“I heard a snap-like sound during the second attempt in clean and jerk and dropped the weights. After that my coach had a look at my arm, there was a lot of pain but I had to make the third attempt, try and secure the gold. But I could not do it,” Sargar told the media with the silver medal around his neck.
“I am very disappointed and angry as I lost the gold medal..I had prepared and worked so hard for the gold medal but unfortunately, this injury prevented me from claiming gold,” said Sagar after his event.
He said he would dedicate his silver medal to the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations currently on in the country.
Sargar started with 107kg and then upped it to 111 and 113 kgs in the snatch section. Malaysia’s Mohamad Aniq Bin Kasdan did an identical 107 in the first attempt but failed his next two attempts on 111, thus leaving Sargar the opportunity to lift more than his opponent in clean and jerk, his strong point, to claim gold.
Sri Lanka’s Dilanka Isuru Kumara Yodage cleared 105 in the second attempt but went for 112 in the third and final after watching the Malaysian Mohd Aniq fail at 111. But he could not complete the lift and had to be satisfied with 105 and third place in the standings after the snatch.
The Malaysian came back strongly in clean and jerk while Sargar was hampered by his injury.
(IANS)
