Asian Games 2026: Mirabai Chanu ends wait for maiden medal, clinches silver in women's 49kg category

India's star weightlifter Mirabai Chanu clinched silver in the women's 49kg category at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Wednesday, finally completing her medal collection with the one major title that had eluded her.

The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist lifted a total of 198kg, managing 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk, to claim India's first Asian Games weightlifting medal since Karnam Malleswari won bronze in 1998.

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North Korea's Ri Song Gum lived up to expectations, lifting a total of 215kg (94kg+121kg) to win gold and complete a hat-trick of Asian Games titles.

Mirabai opened with 83kg in the snatch before successfully clearing 85kg and 87kg with her next two attempts, finishing the first half of the competition in third place. She then produced a best lift of 111kg in the clean and jerk to finally put an Asian Games medal to her name.

The medal comes three years after Mirabai narrowly missed the podium at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where she finished fourth. She suffered an injury during the competition and failed in both her final clean and jerk attempts at 117kg, which she needed to win a medal.

The Asian Games silver adds to Mirabai's Olympic silver, three World Championship medals including a gold, multiple Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Championships titles and an Asian Championships bronze.

(With PTI inputs)