P Gururaja won India’s first medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018 after he struck silver in Gold Coast in the men’s 56kg final with a total lift of 249kg.
Son of a truck driver P Gururaja opened India’s medal account on the first competition day of the 21st Commonwealth Games, claiming a silver in the men’s 56kg category in Gold Coast on Thursday. He lifted 111kg in snatch and then 138kg in clean and jerk to win the silver medal for India. Gururaja failed to lift the weight of 138kg in his first two attempts but managed to lift it in his final attempt to secure the medal.
Gururaja had to finish second as the gold medal went to Izahar Ahmad of Malaysia who lifted a total weight of 261kg. His total lift was a Games record. In his snatch attempt, Ahmad lifted 117kg, which was also a Games record. In clean and jerk, he lifted 144kg.
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“I am very happy to have opened India’s medal account in the Games. It was nowhere close to being my best performance but I am glad that it was enough to get me a silver medal,” a grinning Gururaja said after the effort.
The bronze medal in the same category went to Sri Lanka’s Chaturanga Lakmal. He led Gururaja at the end of the snatch category with a lift of 114kg but he managed only 134kg in the clean and jerk to finish third in the final.
India woke up to the happy news of Gururaja winning the country’s first medal at the tournament in Gold Coast and here are some of the best reactions:
https://twitter.com/MajorPoonia/status/981731907615494144
https://twitter.com/virendersehwag/status/981723713887334400
Congratulations to #Gururaja for winning Medal at #GC2018, Lifting total weight of 249kg in the Men's 56kg event! pic.twitter.com/82hNvsQWb1
— Ranjib Biswal (@RanjibBiswal) April 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/Media_SAI/status/981732004273250307
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