* Weightlifter ends 12-year medal wait *Historic bronze for Jay Meena in soft tennis *Men’s badminton team, skeet shooters add three more bronze
Star Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu finally filled the one glaring void in her glittering trophy cabinet, winning silver in the women’s 49kg event to end a 12-year wait for an Asian Games medal on Wednesday.
The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist totalled 198kg (88kg+111kg) to claim India’s first Asian Games weightlifting medal since Karnam Malleswari’s silver in 1998.
Two-time world champion Ri Song Gum of North Korea won gold with a stunning 215kg (94kg+121kg), while Indonesia’s Luluk Diana Tri Wijayana took bronze with 191kg (88kg+103kg).
Chanu had finished ninth at the 2014 Asian Games and missed the 2018 edition because of a back injury. At the Hangzhou Games in 2023, she was within touching distance of the podium before a hip injury on the platform forced her to settle for fourth.
“I have been chasing this medal for the last 12 years, since the 2014 Asian Games. My life is complete now with this medal,” Chanu said.
She made 83kg, 85kg and 87kg in the snatch before clearing 107kg and 111kg in the clean and jerk. With silver assured, she did not take her final attempt.
