Lifting: Jeremy leads Maharashtra medal sweep

NEWDELHI: World Youth Championship silver medallist Jeremy Lalrinnunga, the Mizo lad representing Maharashtra, set the benchmark in the weightlifting hall at the Khelo India School Games on the second day of the competition, taking gold to lead his state to a medal sweep of the boys’ 62kg category on Tuesday.

Jeremy Lalrinnunga, who also won a gold at the Commonwealth Youth Championships last year, beat silver medallist Jacob Vanlaltluanga, his friend who offered him the only real competition.

Competing in a higher 62kg class since he is preparing for greater challenges in April, Jeremy Lalrinnunga lifted 115kg in snatch and 136kg in clean & jerk to total 251kg. Jacob Vanlaltluanga managed a total of 247kg in the two-way race, both failing in their last clean & jerk attempts.

Abhishek Nipane picked up the bronze medal in another impressive display on the platform. Both Jeremy and Jacob were representing Maharashtra as they are from the Army Sports Institute in Pune, but have grown up together in Aizawl, the Capital city of Mizoram.

Despite lifting a heroic combined weight, Jeremy was unhappy with his effort after he failed to lift 140kg in his last attempt. “I wanted to lift more because I was testing myself.”

In girls’ 53kg , Lamabam Nilam Devi upset Ananya Patil, who won the Youth gold at the Commonwealth Championship in Gold Coast, Australia in September 2017.