Mali breaks down after missing bronze

Fri, Oct 08 10 10:57 PM

Chandraboli Mitra New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI) Having lost the bronze medal just by a whisker in the men''s 85-kg weightlifting category, Chandrakant Mali just could not control his emotions as he broke down after finishing fourth. Going into the competition, India always had an outside chance of winning a medal as Chandrakant was placed in a group consisting of at least three Commonwealth lifters who had done better than him. The Indian, who had lifted 146 kg in snatch and 173 kg in clean and jerk for a total effort of 319 kg in the men''s 85-kg category during the selection trials of the Commonwealth Games last month, was virtually no match to the likes of Simplice Ribouem, who already had lifted 341 kg, Richard Patterson (334 kg) and Paul Dumais (320 kg). However, Mali did not perform too badly. At the end of the competition, both him and the bronze medallist Marineau had a combined lift of 325 kg, but the Indian lost out on the basis of more body weight than his opponent. The 23-year-old, who also managed to better his trial performance with a total of 325 kg, has a body weight of 84.87, while Marineaus body weight is 84.46. Though the lad from Kolapur said that he felt much more confident after his good show at the competition today but he just could not speak much, breaking down again and again. Yes, I do feel more confident after this performance, Mali told PTI in a timid voice. But when asked if he would now be looking ahead and will be focussing on Asian Games and other events, he just nodded his head in approval but choose to remain silent while tears kept rolling down his cheeks. His father Dadu Mali, who is a farmer by profession, was also in tears but said that he is proud of his sons achievements. I am feeling bad that he missed out on a medal just because of more body weight, but I am glad that he made such a good effort," said Dadu Mali. And while everyone from journalists to the commentators to the audience came to shook his hands for his great efforts, he was simply inconsolable. His teammates in gold medallist in 69 kg Ravi Kumar and Omkar Otari (62 kg), besides his coach from Kolapur, stayed by his side , trying to cheer him up. Otari, who also train under the same coach Pradeep Patil at Kolapur spoke highly about their mentor. He has a gymnasium of his own where we all train and this is a big thing that three lifters from his gymnasium have been representing India, said Otari. Apart from Chandrakant and Otari, another weightlifter Kailash Pujari, who is now retired, who has also represented India, trained under Pradeep Patil. And though Pradeep Patil did not want to comment on his wards failure but he made sure that Chandrakant do not lose hope as he kept on uttering encouraging words to him as he along with his well wishers left the venue.

Source: Published>