The Commonwealth Games silver medalist pulled off a total effort of 194kg (83kg + 111kg), as she opened India’s medal tally in this edition of the championship.
She also won the silver medal in the clean and jerk section. However, the medals are in a non-Olympic weight class.
The Manipuri had two failed lifts – one each in a snatch and a clean jerk. But a gold medal would have been beyond her reach even if she had completed those two lifts.
Chinese Taipei’s Chen Guan Ling won the gold medal with an effort of 204kg (90kg+114kg) while Vietnamese Vo Thi Quynh Nhu of 192kg (88kg+104kg) won bronze in a exhausted platoon.
The top lifters in 55kg have either moved up or down the weight classes in order to qualify for the Paris Games next year.
Bindyarani started well, executing her first two snatch attempts of 80kg and 83kg with relative ease, but her 85kg attempt was deemed a failure. His personal best in the snatch is 86 kg.
Ranked fourth after the snatch, the Manipuri covered the ground by lifting the second highest weight in the clean and jerk.
She then unsuccessfully tried to improve her total with a lift of 115 kg. She had lifted 116kg at the CWG in Birmingham last year.
The Manipuri was forced to return to her original 55kg weight division for this event due to an injury she suffered prior to the selection trials.
She had moved up to the 59kg weight class, which features at the Paris Olympics, at last year’s World Championships, where she finished 25th.
Ahead of the tournament, head coach Vijay Sharma insisted the aim was to get Bindyarani to take part in the event, which is one of the qualifiers for the Paris Olympics, and culminate in the Asian Games later this year.
According to the 2024 Olympic qualification rule, an athlete must participate in the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup.
In addition to the above two, an athlete must also compete in three of the following additional events: 2022 World Championships, 2023 Continental Championships, 2023 Grand Prix 1, 2023 Grand Prix II and 2024 Continental Championships.
After competing here and at last year’s World Championships, Mirabai Chanu and Bindyarani now have to compete in another additional event, in addition to the two mandatory events.
International Bodybuilding (IWF) will publish the Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) for each weight category at the end of the qualification period.
The three best performances of a weightlifter during the qualification events will be taken into account for the final evaluation.
