Indian weightlifters off to disappointing start at Asiad

India started their weightlifting campaign on a dismal note as all three of them who took the field today finished in the bottom half of the table in their respective weight categories in both men's and women's divisions at the Asian Games here.

Not good news from Weightlifting : All 3 Indians that were in contention today (Sukhen Dey, S.M Chanu & K.S Chanu) fail to get Medal

— India@AsianGames2014 (@India_AllSports) September 20, 2014

In Women's 48kg category, Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu and Saikhom Mirabai Chanu -- the gold and silver medallist of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games -- came a cropper by finishing tenth and ninth respectively in a field of 13 weightlifters.

Another Commonwealth gold medallist Sukhen Dey, meanwhile, finished a lowly 12th in men's 56kg category out of 14 lifters. Placed in Group B of men's 56kg, where six lifters competed, Sukhen ended at fifth place with a total of 242kg (106+136).

Weight lifting: Sukhen Dey finished 5th in Group B of Men's 56 #Incheon2014 pic.twitter.com/RjkpICxBMo

— PI Asian Games (@PI_AsianGames) September 20, 2014

Mirabai lifted a total of 75kg in snatch, and 96kg in clean and jerk for an overall effort of 171kg. Sanjita could lift only a total of 166kg (73+93).

Kazakhstan's Margarita Yelisseyeva ran away with the gold in women's 48kg category with an effort 194kg (88+106), while Sri Wahyuni Agustiani of Indonesia settled for a silver with a lift of 187kg (80+107) and Togoeva Mahliyo of Uzbekistan bagged a bronze with a total of 187 (81+106).

In men's 56kg, North Korea's Om Yun Chol won the gold with a total of 298kg, which is now the new Asian Games record. He lifted 128kg in snatch before a world record 170kg effort in clean and jerk.
Thach Kim Tua of Vietnam (total of 294kg) pocketed a silver and China's Wu Jingbiao (288kg) finished with a bronze.