"Clean" Indian lifters look to emulate Commonwealth Games success in Asiad

INCHEON: After successfully burying the ghosts of doping menace at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with an impressive show, Indian weightlifters would look to keep their new-found cleaner image intact while aiming for a rich medal when their campaign begins at the 17th Asian Games, here tomorrow.

Indian lifters brought home as many as 12 medals from Scotland but what made a bigger news was that none of the athletes were found to have tested positive during the multi-sporting tournament, thereby purging the sins related to past doping controversies.

Seven medallists from the Commonwealth Games have made it to the 10-member Indian squad for the Asiad, where the event will commence from tomorrow and go on till September 26 with at least two titles to be decided everyday.

Five men and as many women lifters will represent India at the mega-tournament. Of the 10 lifters who have made the cut in the Asian Games squad, nine of them were part of the Indian contingent at the Commonwealth Games.

Kavita Devi (women's 85kg) is the lone lifter who did not go to Glasgow.

Seven of these 10 athletes had bagged medals there, which included three yellow metals.

Tomorrow's events -- women's 48kg and men's 56kg -- will see Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu and Sukhen Dey competing in the respective women's and men's categories. Both of them had pocketed the yellow metal at the Commonwealth Games.

Come tomorrow, the expectations will be sky high when these two lifters take the field.

However, national women's team coach Hansa Sharma had already warned that the standard of competition would be much higher in the Asian Games as compared to CWG.

"The standard of competition will be very high. Most weightlifters who compete at the Asiad are Olympic prospects. So, talking realistically, it is going to be really tough for our lifters. But we are leaving no stone unturned as far as training is concerned," Sharma had said.