Gandhinagar: Mirabai Chanu came up with yet another enthralling performance, defying an injury to her left wrist en route to the maiden gold medal-winning performance at the 36th National Games at the Mahatma Mandir here on Friday. She came up with an impressive effort of 191 kg for the yellow metal in the women’s 49kg category and is now eyeing the World Championships in December to get to the magic mark.
For the uninitiated, the magic mark stands for the national record lift of 90kgs in Snatch. The national record and her personal best in snatch stand at 88kg, which Chanu had lifted during the National Championships in 2020. She has been eyeing the magical mark of 90kgs in the section for the past couple of years and has been working with Dr Aaron Horschig in the US for the same.
However, in clean and jerk, Mirabai holds the world record hoist of 119kg and has been targeting to increase it by a kilogram.
“Those milestones are in my mind, I am working hard towards achieving that. There is obviously a bit of pressure but I prefer to take each tournament at a time and not try to overburden myself with those thoughts,” Mirabai said during a candid interaction with EastMojo after her gold-medal win, here.
“I train for seven hours each day and spend another hour for injury management with the physio. The focus has entirely shifted towards preparations for the World championships now,” she added.
Participating in her second National Games, Mirabai revealed that she was nursing an injury in her wrist, due to which she didn’t turn up for her third attempt. “I recently injured my left wrist during training at NIS, Patiala, after which I made sure not to risk it further. The World Championships are coming up in December,” she said.
Elated after opening Manipur’s account in the 36th National Games’ medal tally, Mirabai said she wanted to challenge herself by opting to turn out for the opening ceremony on Thursday evening. In most events including the Tokyo Games, Mirabai has skipped the opening ceremonies, as her event starts early the next day.
“It is a proud moment for me to represent Manipur at the National Games, and the excitement doubled when I was asked to lead the contingent at the opening ceremony. It normally gets hectic to attend opening ceremonies as my event starts early the next day, but I felt I must challenge myself this time around,” she added.
Come 2023, Mirabai will be desperate to fill her cabinet with the elusive Asian Games medal, but the diminutive Manipuri prefers to stay in the moment, and focus on the Worlds where she is expected to be up against weightlifters from the Asian powerhouses.
“Yes an Asian Games medal is missing from the cabinet, and it’s something that’s on the back of my mind. It will be my first Asian Games after missing out on the 2018 edition with a back injury.”
“The competition level at the Asiad will be great but for me, the main focus now is the Worlds, where I will get to compete against the same weightlifters,” the 28-year-old said.
Also read | Mirabai pips Sanjita for 49kg gold as Manipur opens medal account