Weightlifters made Odisha proud at the Commonwealth Championship as three among them _ Jhilli Dalabehera, Sneha Soren and Bhaktaram Desti _ bagged three gold and one silver medals on the opening day in Apia, Samoa today.

Bhaktaram Desti was most successful among the three, bagging gold medal in both junior and youth men’s 49kg weight category. The tribal lad from Malkangiri district and a pupil of coach Sita Jena at Government Sports Hostel, Berhampur, Desti lifted 77kg in snatch and 108kg in clean & jerk for a total of 185kg.

Jhilli Dalabehra, an inmate of Bhubaneswar Sports Hostel, clinched the first place on the podium in the senior women’s 45kg event. Pupil of coach P Dharmarao, Dalabehera lifted 70kg in snatch, 94kg in clean & jerk for a total of 154kg.

Sneha Soren of Mayurbhanj district scured silver medal in junior women’s 55kg class, with a total lift of 169kg (73kg in snatch and 96kg in clean & jerk). India won a total of 13 medal on Day-1, which included eight  gold, three silver and two bronze.

Odisha Weightlifting Association president Chitta Ranjan Swain and vice-president Hari Prasad Pattanayak congratulated the three medal winners of the state and wished them more laurels in the future.
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PHOTO: Bhaktaram Desti poses with his gold medal in Apia, Samoa on 9 July, 2019.