Gururaja Poojary earned the bronze medal in the men’s 61 kg final on Saturday, giving India a perfect weightlifting record going into the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022.
Poojary performed a successfully combined lift of 269 kg (118 kg in the snatch & 151 kg in the clean and jerk) to ensure India’s second medal of the competition. Poojary added to India’s impressive performance at CWG weightlifting events, bringing the country’s total number of medals won to 127. This came shortly after fellow weightlifter Sanket Mahadev Sargar, who won silver, started India’s medal count at the CWG 2022.
Gururaja, who finished first and took home a silver medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Games, started out with a powerful clean lift of 115 kg. As Youri Simard of Canada and Morea Baru of Papua New Guinea caught up, Poojary added three more kilograms in his second effort, lifting the total weight to 118 kilograms, which he likewise accomplished without difficulty. Aznil Bidin was in the first place, followed by Morea Baru and Canada’s Youri Simard, but Poojary stumbled in his third attempt at a snatch, which was for 120 kg. As a result, he finished the round in fourth place.
Although Poojary failed in his final effort at a snatch, his performance in the clean and jerk more than made up for it. He made the decision to lift 144 kg in his first effort right away, and he did it forcefully while pumping his fists. Simard outperformed Poojary and took the lead by 2 kg.
Simard then attempted to lift 149, so Poojary had to raise 151 on his final effort. Poojary had to duplicate his personal best to be in the bronze running for the bronze, which he duly did. Bidin and Baru were in a battle for gold; nevertheless, Poojary had won India’s second-day medal.