Sanket Sargar wins India’s first CWG 2022 medal, bags silver in weighlifting

It was kind of a heartbreak for Sanket, who was set for gold but an untimely injury he suferred in his second attempt of the clean and jerk round peggged him back. In a thrilling end, Malaysia’s Bin Kasdan Mohamad Aniq lifted 142kg in his final attempt of the clean and jerk round to claim the gold medal with a total lift of 249kg (107+142).

Sanket Mahadev Sargar won India’s first medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham by claiming silver in men’s 55kg weightlifting with a total lift of 248kg (113+135) on Day 2 at the Games on Saturday. It was kind of a heartbreak for Sanket, who was set for gold but an untimely injury he suferred in his second attempt of the clean and jerk round while for 138kg peggged him back. To everyone’s surprise, the 21-year-old Indian did return to attempt a 138kg lift again in his final effort of the clean and jerk round but his right elbow was in no shape to let him carry the load.

In a thrilling end, Malaysia’s Bin Kasdan Mohamad Aniq lifted 142kg – a Commonwealth Games record in clean and jerk – in his final attempt of the clean and jerk round to claim the gold medal with a total lift of 249kg (107+142). Sri Lanka’s Dilanka Isuru Kumara Yodage bagged bronze with a total lift of 225kg (105+120).

Sanket’s best lift in the clean and jerk round came in his first attempt when the Maharashtra-born athlete managed to pull off a lift of 135 kg.

He had succesfully lifted 107kg in his first attempt in the snatch round and beterred that with 111kg and 113kg lifts in his second and third attempt respectively.

Sanket was in gold position after the snatch round with a best of 113kg, which is also the national record. Bin Kasdan was the second with a best lift of 107kg in snatch followed by Sri Lanka’s Dilanka Isuru Kumara Yodage’s 105kg lift. The Sri Lankan’s 112kg lift in his third attempt was first cleared but later deemed as foul by the referees.

Sanket was one of the favourites to finish on the podium after he had claimed gold in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent Uzbekistan in December last year. The 21-year-old had lifted 113kg to create a new national record in the snatch category and win gold.