India’s disappointing campaign at the World Weightlifting Championships 2023 continued as Achinta Sheuli finished a below-par eight in Group D of the men’s 73kg event on Friday, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The CWG 2022 gold medalist only managed to lift a combined weight of 285 kg (130+155). He also failed in his three attempts overall. This performance was nowhere close to his personal best of 313 kg (143+173) by Achinta Sheuli, who is making a comeback after a back injury. To add to his woes, his name was also removed from the Asian Games contingent in August.
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Selection Criteria
The selection criteria for the Asian Games 2023 is strict one and stipulates that athletes’ performances in individual competitions over the course of the previous 12 months “should not fall below the performance achieved by the eighth position holder in the Asian Games 2018.”
This way only Mirabai Chanu (49 kg) and Bindiyarani Devi (55 kg) have been approved for the Games in weightlifting. Meanwhile, the championship is still not over for India as Narayana Ajith will be in action on Saturday. As per his entry weight, he has been assigned Group C.
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As per the rules, the lifters are allotted their groups as per the entry weight they register. Also, the lifters with the highest entry weights are placed in Group A, followed by B, C, and D. The World Weightlifting Championships is one of the two compulsory events for athletes to make it to the Olympics. It was this very reason why India’s Olympic silver medalist Mirabai Chanu did not compete here and only appeared for a weigh-in. As per reports, she wants to focus on the Asian Games scheduled to take place in China, from September 23.
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