No medal assured at the Games, not even in 3-man field

PUNE: On a normal day, in any competition, there are three or four podium finishers depending on the sport. But the Khelo I ndi a Youth Games a r e a n exception, where there can even be only two podium finishers. The Under-21 men’s 89kg category i n weightlifting at t he Games saw just three entries – Nikhil Tugnait (Punjab), Mani sh ( Haryana) and Ruturaj Namdev Gaikwad (Maharashtra). Sounds like an assured medal for all? Not quite.

Tugnait led the three-man field after snatch with a best lift of 134kg followed by Manish (130kg) and Gaikwad (116kg).

The clean and jerk section is where t he i nt r i g ui ng part begun. Tugnait lifted 160kg in his first attempt and then could not lift his subsequent attempts of 165kg and 168kg. Manish also could l i f t 1 5 6 i n his s econd attempt and failed to go beyond.

Enter Gaikwad. The Maharashtra lifter attempted 136kg three times in clean and jerk and failed on every occasion. His failure to lift the weight even once meant he was disqualified.

So, the 89kg event saw no bronze medal winner. Tugnait came first and Manish took home silver.