A six-member Indian contingent featuring Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu will be participating at the World Weightlifting Championships 2023 at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Olympic Complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from Monday onwards. The Indian contingent consists of Mirabai Chanu, Achinta Sheuli, Ajith Narayan, Bindyarani Devi, Gurdeep Singh and Shubham Tanaji Todkar. Sheuli, Bindyarani and Gurdeep had won medals at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, as per reports. Chanu will, however, only attend the women’s 49 kg weigh-in and will not lift so as to protect herself from injury ahead of the Asian Games scheduled for this month later. The World Championships is one of the two mandatory qualifying events for the 2024 Olympic Games. Athletes must appear at the Riyadh meet so as to stay eligible to obtain Olympic quotas for their countries even if they do not lift during the competition. Athletes competing in the championships will have a chance to earn Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) points, which will be based on the best total results (snatch + clean and jerk) that the athletes will get during the competitions. The top 10 athletes based on QOR, which will have one highest-ranked athlete per country in per weight category, will get Olympic quotas for their teams after the cycle ends in April 2024. CWG champions Sheuli and Ajith Narayan will be playing in the men’s 73 kg division. Shubham Tanaju will be aiming to make an impact in the men’s 61 kg category. Bindyarani, who had secured a silver medal in CWG last year in a 55 kg women’s competition, will be competing in the non-Olympic weight division. She had moved to 59 kg, an Olympic-level weight class for the world championships last year. CWG bronze winner Gurdeep Singh will also be playing in the non-Olympic weight division of men’s +109 kg division. The World Weightlifting Championships 2023 will end on September 17.World Weightlifting Championships 2023:
India team members:
-Mirabai Chanu
women’s 49kg
(only weigh-in)
-Bindyrani Devi
women’s 55kg
-Achinta Sheuli
men’s 73kg
-Ajith Narayan
men’s 73kg
-Gurdeep Singh
men’s +109kg
-Shubham Tanaji Todkar men’s 61kg
