The Hindu : Sport / Weightlifting : Rajkumar sets National marks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 04, 2007
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Sport - Weightlifting

Rajkumar sets National marks

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: B. Rajkumar of Andhra Pradesh set two new National records, en route to glory in the 77kg category competition, in the junior National weightlifting championship here on Saturday.

The Karim Nagar collegian, who was a trainee at the AP sports school in Hyderabad, has been a consistent performer ever since he took to the iron sport seven years back.

A gold medallist in the Asian sub-junior championship, Rajkumar had also dominated the event in the National sub-junior championship.

Rousing reception

On Saturday, the muscular lad asked for 125kg for his first snatch attempt and raised it to 131kg to erase the record set by Punjab's Narinder Singh in 1999. His final lift of 133kg got a rousing reception from the audience.

In the clean and jerk, Rajkumar made his appearance after most of the others had finished their turns. He, however, could not break the 162 kg mark of Rajinder Singh and settled for a 160 kg instead. However, that effort ensured a total lift of 293 kg, a new record, improving upon the 292kg set by Narinder.

Another lifter from the south to be in the spotlight was G. Suriya Prabha of Puducherry, in the women's 63 kg class. The 10th standard girl, already into a tough regimen, ensured no one outlasted her in both snatch and jerk routines. Her father, Kanapathy, a former lifter, is her coach.

The results: Men: 77 kg: Snatch: 1. B. Rajkumar (AP) 133 kg (NR, prev. 130, Narinder Singh, 1999), 2. Harpreet Singh (HP) 121, 3. Sumit Paliwal (MP) 117; Clean and jerk: 1. Rajkumar 160, 2. Harpreet 146, 3. Gursharan Singh (Pun) 145; Total: Rajkumar 293 (NR, prev. 292 Narinder Singh, 1999), 2. Harpreet 267, 3. Sumit 257.

Women: 63kg: 1. G. Suriya Prabha (Pudu) 77 (snatch)-98 (clean and jerk)-175 (total); 2. Seeta Jena (Ori) 77-97-174; 3. G. Aruna Rani (AP) 75-95-170.

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