Sandhubravesinjury, sets record
SPIRITED Punjab youngster latest in the list of champion lifters from Bara Pind village
PUNE: For Tejpal Singh Sandhu, taking to weightlifting was part of destiny. Not only did his family have a line of lifters, but every household in his village in Punjab has someone or the other connected to the sport.
With a legacy this strong, failing is hardly an option. Not even with an injury. And Sandhu, being a proud resident of village Bara Pind near Jalandhar, did not fail the many who came to see his performance from Punjab. The 20-year-old lifted a total of 305kg in the U-21 109+kg, including a snatch national record of 145kg, to win the gold at the Khelo India Youth Games on Tuesday.
The clincher was Sandhu lifting the record weight with ligament pull in his left hand. Following his first attempt of 140kg in snatch, he felt pain in his left hand. He did not give up and came back to lift 145kg in his second attempt. The discomfort was evident but he increased further 4 kgs in his third attempt. He failed. In clean and jerk, Sandhu took only one attempt of 160kg and it was enough for him to seal the gold medal. Chandigarh’s Gagandeep Singh (285kg) and Uttar Pradesh’s Vivek (284kg) won silver and bronze, respectively. “Injury is nothing new to me. I missed two years of action in 2015 and 2016 due to a shoulder injury. I took up lifting in the memory of my late father Parminder Singh Sandhu and I can’t be deterred by such small injuries,” Sandhu said.
Sandhu is not the only lifter from Bara Pind to win a gold at the Khelo India Games. Nikhil Tungait from the same place won the gold in U-21 89 kg.
Maharashtra’s Snehal Bhongale lifted a record total of 160kg in U-21 women’s 87kg to win gold while her statemate Ashwini Malage lifted a record 184kg to win gold in women’s 87+kg. In the U-21 boys’ 109kg category, Tamil Nadu’s B Mukesh clinched gold with a total lift of 261kg.
ESHA STARS
In U-17 girls’ 10m air pistol, all three medals went to London Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang’s wards., Telangana’s Esha Singh (gold, 241.3 points), Maharashtra’s Anushka Patil (silver, 234.7 points) and Sharvari Bhoir (bronze, 213.6 points).
“It is impressive that they have no fear of performance,” said Narang.
Maharashtra also claimed a gold in the U-21 10m air pistol with Harshada Nithave topping the charts (236.3 pts). UP’S Yuvika Tomar (235.6 pts) won silver and Punjab’s Sweta Devi (211.8 pts) clinched the bronze. In U-21 boys’ 50m rifle 3 positions, Punjab’s Sartaj Singh (447.2 pts) edged past Madhya Pradesh’s Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (447.1 pts) to claim the gold.
ODISHA TRIUMPH
MUMBAI: In U-21 men’s hockey, Odisha were crowned champions after defeating Haryana 4-2 in penalty shootout. The scores were tied 2-2 after regulation time. In the bronze medal match, Punjab beat UP 2-0 in the penalty shootout.
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