Commonwealth Games 2022: Sudhir wins India’s first-ever gold medal in para-powerlifting
Indian para-powerlifter Sudhir took the nation’s tally to six gold medals on Thursday in the Commonwealth Games 2022, with an incredible lift of 212kg. Sudhir etched his name in the record books as he clinched India’s first-ever gold medal in para-powerlifting in Commonwealth Games history.
Sudhir defeated Nigeria’s Ikechukwu Obichukwu (133.6 points) by 0.9 points in the Men’s Heavyweight final. He also created a new games record with his final score read of 134.5 points, which was enough to secure the gold medal.
India’s medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 now stands at 20, with Sudhir’s gold being the sixth so far, while Murali Shreeshankar won a historic silver medal earlier on Thursday in Men’s long jump to add to the six silver medals India had won previously, while the Indian contingent has also won seven bronze medal till date.
Sudhir started his event with a successful attempt of a 208kg lift without breaking a sweat, scoring 132.0 points. In his second attempt, he improved his last attempt and lifted 212kg successfully, scoring 134.5 points.
In the third and last attempt, he failed to lift 217kg but clinched the gold medal with 134.5 points. Earlier in the day, Indian Para-Powerlifters failed to win a medal.
Manpreet Kaur started with a successful lift of 87kg, scoring 88.6 points in her first attempt. In the second attempt, she lifted 88kg, scoring 89.6 points. In the last attempt, she failed to lift 90kg.
Para-Powerlifter Sakina Khatun failed to lift 90kg in her first attempt. Khatun successfully lifted 90kg in her second attempt, scoring 87.5 points. The pair finished just outside the podium places with totals of 89.6 Kg and 87.5 Kg.
India’s Manpreet Kaur and Sakina Khatun finish 4th and 5th respectively. In the men’s category, Parmjeet Kumar started his event with a failed attempt of a 165kg lift. The Indian lifter was again unsuccessful to lift 165kg. Even in his last attempt, he failed to lift, thus ending the event at the bottom of the table.