A 13-member Odisha State squad bagged four medals in the National Masters Classic Powerlifting Championship, which was held in Rajam, Andhra Pradesh from 12 to 16 July 2023. The four medals include two silver and two bronze.

According to information shared by Odisha Powerlifting Association secretary Dr Hari Prasad Pattanayak, Krushna Chandra Sahu and Gitanjali Nayak secured one silver medal each in Master-2 mens 83 kg and womens 84 kg categories respectively.

Sahu lifted 205 kg in squat, 90 kg in benchpress and 220 kg in deadlift for a total of 535 kg. He also created a National record in squat and secured third position as best lifter in Master-2 category.

Gitanjali Nayak won the silver medal with a total lift of 230 kg, which included 70 kg in squat, 52.5 kg in benchpress and 107.5 kg in deadlift. The two bronze medals were captured by Sujit Kumar Giri in Master-2 mens 59 kg category and Narayan Sethy in Master-3 mens 66 kg category.

Giri lifted 110 kg in squat, 85 kg in benchpress, 137.5 kg in deadlift and 332.5 kg in total. The performance of Sethy featured 85 kg in squat, 80 kg in benchpress and 90 kg in deadlift for a total of 255 kg.

Among other notable performers of the Odisha squad, Sarmistha Senapati finished fourth in Master-1 womens 76kg category with a total lift of 315kg. She lifted 112.5 kg in squat, 52.5 kg in benchpress and 150 kg in deadlift.

Gopal Chandra Das also finished fourth in Master-2 mens 66kg group, lifting 115kg in squad, 80kg in benchpress and 150kg in deadlift for a total of 345kg. Odisha squad was accompanied by Rakesh Satpathy and Satyajeet Patnaik as coach manager respectively.

Other eight powerlifters of the squad were: Umakanta Behera, Prafulla Amanatya, Niranjan Bebarta Pattnaik, Kishore Chandra Bhutia, Sushil Kumar Biswal, Rama Chandra Rath (all Master-1 category); Gopal Chandra Das and Babula Samal (both Master-2 category).
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PHOTO: Odisha medal winners (Clockwise) Krushna Chandra Sahu, Gitanjali Nayak, Narayan Sethy and Sujit Kumar Giri.