Ravi Kumar disappoints, fails to lift a medal

Mon, Nov 15 10 05:22 PM

Guangzhou, Nov 15 (PTI) India''s medal hope K Ravi Kumar failed to live up to expectations as he finished fifth with a below-par performance in the men''s 69kg weightlifting in the Asian Games here today. Ravi Kumar would have won a medal had he repeated his 321kg effort which fetched him a gold in the Commonwealth Games but he could only lift 311kg (141+170) to finish fifth. North Korea''s Sok Kim Kum (143+181) and Iran''s Rezaeian Morteza (147+177) were tied at 324kg but the former won the gold as he had a lesser body weight. The bronze went to Indonesia''s Triyatno with a total lift of 321kg (143+178). The men''s 69kg field was without China''s world champion and world record holder Hui Liao who lifted 358kg (160+198) in the World Championships in September. Hui pulled out just a few days before the Games due to a shoulder injury. Ravi Kumar started on a disappointing note, failing in his first two attempts to lift 140kg in snatch. However, he managed to clear 141kg in his third lift to stay in the hunt, by finishing on fifth at the end of the first category. In contrast, Rezaeian along with another fellow Iranian lifter Seyed Panzvan topped the snatch event with 147kg lift, followed by Sok Kim Kum and Triyatno with 143kg lift each. In clean and jerk, Ravi raised Indian hopes with a successful first attempt lift of 170kg but failed in his subsequent two attempts to lift 180kg. In his last clean and jerk attempt, he almost lifted 180kg but he could not hold on the weight for enough time to be counted as a good lift. "It was hard luck. Ravi had lifted 180kg in clean and jerk but could not hold onto it for enough time. It was just a matter of one second. We are disappointed," Indian Weightlifting Federation President Birendra Prasad Baishya, who was at at the Dongguan Gymnasium to watch the event, said. PTI CM PDS

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