Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won India's first gold at the ongoing Commonwealth Games after she brought home the laurel in women's 49kg weightlifting final. The 27-year-old lifted a total of 201kg to win the yellow metal and this was India's third medal of Day 2 of the ongoing event after Sanket Sargar (silver) and Gururaja (bronze) delivered earlier in the day. Later on, Bindyarani Devi won India's fourth medal after she returned with a silver in women's 55kg category.
Chanu, who had won the gold medal at the 2018 CWG in Gold Coast in Australia, was miles ahead of the competition as she picked up 88kg in snatch and 113 kg in clean and jerk. As soon as Chanu won the gold medal, congratulatory messages started to pour in on Twitter.
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Due to her excellent performance in the snatch round, which saw her set the new Commonwealth record, Mirabai needed to just complete her first attempt in the clean and jerk round and she did it with aplomb, lifting 105kg.
Assured of gold, she went on to lift 113kg in her second attempt. She tried 119kg in her third, but could not complete the lift, but it mattered little as she secured her second gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.
After the win, Chanu told NDTV: "I had come prepared to give the best performance in snatch. I wanted to do better than before in snatch, I touched it (her personal best), but could not cross it. But this performance is my best in snatch till date, so I am very happy."
"I knew the competition at CWG would be relatively easier and that is why I wanted to compete with myself. I wanted to improve my performance and I am happy with my effort," she added.