Odisha lifter Amarjit Maharana bagged his first National medal with a silver in junior men above 109 kg weight category in the IWLF National Youth, Junior & Senior Weightlifting Championship, which concluded at Rainbow International School in Nagrata Bagwan, Himachal Pradesh today.

Twenty-year-old Amarjit, who hails from Silk City Berhampur and trains at Odisha Weightlifting High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar, secured the silver medal with a total lift of 283 kg, which included 122 kg in snatch and 161 kg in clean & jerk.

With this silver, Odisha capped its campaign with an impressive haul of 19 medals, which featured seven gold, nine silver and three bronze. Odisha won four gold and two silver in youth category, one gold, three silver and two bronze in junior group and two gold, four silver and one bronze in senior section.

Young Odisha lifter Jyoshna Sabar was declared as the best lifter in youth girls group. A trainee of Weightlifting HPC, Jyoshna grabbed the gold medal in youth girls 40 kg weight class with a total lift of 120 kg earlier on the opening day.

As many as 38 lifters, including 19 women, represented Odisha in the week-long National championship. Mina Santa (A) proved to be the most successful Odisha lifter in the championship as she clinched a glorious double today, winning one gold medal each in girls 55 kg youth and junior categories.

Dhenkanal lifter Hrudananda Das was another notable achiever from Odisha, winning one gold and one silver medal, along with a National record in 81 kg youth boys and junior men categories respectively. He set the National record in youth clean & jerk and total, lifting 170 kg and 302 kg respectively.
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PHOTO: Amarjit Maharana poses with his silver medal at the National Weightlifting Championship in Nagrata Bagwan on 13 October 2024.