Indian weightlifter Harjinder Kaur claimed a bronze medal in the women`s 71 kg competition at the Commonwealth Games here despite not lifting her best in an event in which England's Sarah Davies broke a plethora of records to storm to the gold medal.
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The 25-year-old from Mehas village near Nabha in Punjab lifted 93 in snatch and 119 in clean and jerk for a below-par total of 212 kg in the competition and at one time thought that she had lost out on a medal as Alexis Ashworth of Canada, the eventual silver medallist, lifted her season`s best of 123 kg in clean and jerk to shoot up to 214 in the standings.
Harjinder was also lucky as Joy Ogbonne Eze of Nigeria suffered a washout, failing to lift 125 kg in clean and jerk in three attempts. As she had lifted 100 kg, seven kilos more than Harjinder, the Indian would have been relegated to the fourth position if the Nigerian had succeeded.
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Harjinder's bronze medal was the third medal for India on Monday at the Commonwealth Games adding to the silver and bronze won by judokas Shushila Devi and Vikas Yadav. This took India`s overall tally to nine medals three gold, three silver and three bronze. Harjinder's bronze medal was the seventh medal India had won in the weightlifting arena so far in this Games.
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However, it looked like India would have a barren day in weightlifting after bagging six medals in the previous two days. Earlier in the morning, Ajay Singh lost out a bronze medal by one kilogram and the way Harjinder started with a no lift in her first attempt in snatch, it looked like India was in for another setback in the final medal event of the day at the National/Exhibition Centre (NEC) here.
