Beating all competitors in the women’s 69kg event, weightlifter Punam Yadav has helped India win its fifth gold of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.
The lifter from Uttar Pradesh improved upon the bronze medal she won four years ago in Glasgow with a combined effort of 222 (100 in snatch and 122 in clean and jerk) to take India’s overall medal tally at the Gold Coast Games to seven, media reports said.
At the Carrara Sports Club, the 22-year-old Punam lifted 95, 98 and 100 in the snatch, and then 118 and 122 in the clean & jerk to finish on 122, the reports pointed out.
Yadav, a bronze-medallist from the 2014 Glasgow edition, lifted 222kg (110kg+122kg) to claim gold ahead of England’s Sarah Davies, who finshed with 217kg (95kg+122kg), reported PTI.
The Englishwoman went for a 128kg lift in her final clean and jerk attempt in pursuit of gold but could not complete it and dropped the bar, it added.
Yadav had claimed a silver at last year’s Commonwealth Championships last year, her first event after making the jump from 63kg to 69kg category.
Earlier Mirabai Chanu (48kg), Sanjita Chanu (53kg), Sathish Sivalingam (77kg) and Venkat Rahul Ragala (85kg) had claimed gold medals in the ongoing edition, the reports pointed out.
