Manipur’s star weightlifter Mirabai Chanu qualifies for Tokyo Olympics

NEW DELHI: The star Indian weightlifter, Mirabai Chanu qualified for the next Tokyo Olympics in the women's 49kg category on Saturday, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) confirmed.

The 26-year-old Manipur native was selected based on her world ranking points. With 4133,6172 points, the Indian lifter is ranked second in the women's 49kg division. Hou Zhihui of China is in first place with 4926,4422 points.

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The 2017 world champion weightlifting, Chanu qualified for Tokyo by winning a bronze medal in the Asian Championships in Tashkent in April with a world record in the clean and jerk.

Chanu was previously placed fourth but the withdrawal of North Korea from the Olympics propelled the Indian to second place.

Chanu will compete in her second Olympics, five years after a poor outing in Rio, when she failed to lift any of the weights in the clean and jerk to bow out of the showpiece.

“Hearty congratulations to @mirabai_chanu on qualifying for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in Women's 49 Kg category. Mirabai Chanu has been ranked 2nd in the @iwfnet's Absolute Ranking List in the 49 Kg category. May your hard work and dedication bring laurels to the country”, Manipur CM N.Biren Singh tweeted.

“India's star weightlifter and medal hopeful @mirabai_chanu has qualified for #Tokyo2020 after @iwfnet published it's absolute ranking list, where she is ranked 2nd. She is currently training in the USA and making her best efforts. My heartiest congratulations to Mirabai Chanu!”, Union Minister of Sports Kiren Rijiju tweeted.

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