Gurdeep Singh lost in the gold medal fight to Pakistan’s Nooh Dastgir Butt but still created history by becoming the first Indian to win Commonwealth Games medal in the +109 kg category.
Weightlifter Gurdeep Singh in action during the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Wednesday. Screengrab/SonyLiv
Weightlifter Gurdeep Singh claimed another bronze medal for India at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham when he scripted history by becoming the first Indian lifter to win a medal in the +109 kg category late on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old athlete lifted a total of 390kg {167kg (snatch) + 223kg (clean and jerk)} in the heavyweight plus category for the third spot behind Pakistan’s gold medallist Nooh Dastgir Butt (405kg), who also set the Games Record and New Zealand’s David Liti.
Singh wasn’t off to the best of starts as he fluffed his first snatch attempt of 167kg. He managed to lift the weight in his second try. However, he failed in his third attempt of 173kg.
Entering the clean and jerk in the joint third spot, Singh started with a 207kg lift. There was some nervous moments for the Indian as he failed his second clean and jerk attempt of 215kg.
But Singh increased the barbell by eight kilograms and lifted it successfully to register 223kg. With the bronze from Singh, India ended its weightlifting campaign with 10 medals — three gold, three silver and four bronze.
(With inputs from PTI)