Manipur weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu bagged the women’s 49 kg category gold medal at the sixth Qatar International Cup on Friday.
The 25-year-old Chanu won gold with an effort of 194 kg in the Olympic qualifying silver level event.
The points that she earned will come in handy when the final rankings for 2020 Tokyo Olympics cut will be done.
To qualify for Tokyo, a weightlifter must compete in at least one event in each of the three periods of six months (spread over November 2018 to April 2020), at least six events overall and in at least one gold and another silver level event.
Chanu’s performance on Friday was, however, way below her personal best of 201 kg which she lifted during this year’s World Championships in Thailand.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Indian managed to register only one clean lift in both the snatch and clean and jerk categories.
She manged to lift 83 kg in her second attempt in snatch event but then failed to clear 87 kg in her final try.
In the clean and jerk section, Chanu lifted 111 kg in her first attempt but was unable to heave 115 kg and 116 kg in her final two attempts.
Earlier this year at the World championship, Chanu had breached the much anticipated 200 kg mark by lifting her personal best in all three sections.
In snatch she lifted 87 kg followed by 114 kg in clean and jerk for a total of 201 kg.
Chanu, who had won 48 kg gold at the 2017 edition in Anaheim, USA with an overall effort of 194 kg, returned to action in February following a lower-back injury.
She had missed the World Championships and Asian Games in 2018 owing to a back injury.
She had also clinched the gold medal in 49 kg at the EGAT Cup, which was the first of the six Olympic qualifying events for her.
