The Indian weightlifter's recent results are a class apart from her competitors in the category in Birmingham, but she will be looking to further refine her silver medal shoulders on Saturday is going to be the weight of expectations. With a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year – India’s best weightlifting feat at the event – it would not be immodest to say that her Commonwealth Games task is almost a foregone conclusion. China and Korea missing, which leaves Birmingham with the gold around her neck. Her combined lift in Tokyo qualified her for the event and is better than the next best qualifier – Stella Peter Kingsley of Nigeria – who lifted world championships last year. Mauritius’ Roilya Ranaivosoa and Papua New Guinea’s lifted and at Tokyo respectively to make the cut. Both of them have personal bests but have been nowhere near the best, which she lifted at the Asian Championships in Tashkent last year. Indian is well aware of that as anticipation of her success in Birmingham builds, she is sticking to the tried and tested lines. “I know what the fans want. I will try my best to do well in the CWG. After Tokyo, I have been focusing mainly on my technique and right now I can only assure you that everything is fine with my training and technique. I have done a lot of work on that,” she said., her preparation has been a bit disturbed this year. The Indian Weightlifting Federation wanted to increase her body weight to take part in the category to ensure more medals for India, with Jhilli Dalabehera taking her place in the class. But after a new rule stated only the best lifter in a category will qualify for an event at the Games, despite making the cut at the Singapore International, the move was shelved, given her pedigree and previous results, there are few doubts over her status as the favorite on Saturday blow the competition out of the water at the Games on Saturday, but there is still some progress to be made for up of two rounds – the snatch, in which the lifter raises the barbell directly over their head, and clean and jerk, in which the lifter must first bring it up to their chest before lifting it over their head. 28-year-old’s best performances have come through her domination of the clean and jerk, in which her 119 kg lift in Tashkent is the world record, but she has lagged behind the world’s best. She was behind the Olympics last year, coming from the advantage in the snatch section record to say she is looking to improve her snatch lifts and has been working with an American physiotherapist to be able to curb any physical limitations stopping her from doing better. Her personal best aim for the CWG is – an improvement that could ensure more podium finishes at top international events.
With snatch improvement on her mind, Mirabai Chanu is the odds-on favourite for gold at CWG 2022
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