Imphal, Mar 28: A 17 year old Manipur boy N Tomchou Meetei from Manipur won three medals including two silver at the on-going 2023 IWF Youth Men and Women World Weightlifting Championships (March 25-April 1,2023) at Durres, Albania on Sunday.
Tomchou Meetei won Bronze Medal in Snatch and Silver medal Clean & Jerk and a Silver Medal in overall with a total of 234 kg.
He managed 131 kg in clean and jerk to win the silver and 103 kg in snatch to settle for a bronze and to amass a total of 234 kg in the men's 55 kg category for the second place.
K Duong of Vietnam topped the category with a total lift of 258 kg, 114 in snatch and 144 in clean and jerk while Akyun Burak of Turkey was third with a total lift of 227 kg (102 kg in snatch and 125 kg in clean and jerk) .
Confirming this, Tekhellambam Bobo and Ch Premila,both coaches of National Sports Academy(NSA) in Imphal who helped Tomchou in achieving such a successful step at the international competition, speaking to this reporter said that Tomchou becomes the first sportsperson from an institute like NSA who bagged a medal in the international completion while he is currently undergoing training at NSA.
Earlier Tomchou had won many medals in many national competitions after his first participation in Bodhgaya,Bihar(2019) followed by Khelo India Youth Games in Guwahati (2020) and Patliala,Punjab(2021).He also participated in National competitions in Bhubaneshwar,Odisha(2022),Nagarcoil,Tamilnadu(2022-23) and Khelo India Youth Games,Indore(2023).He won his first silver medal in an international competition at 2023 IWF Youth Men and Women World Weightlifting Champ,Albania.
Manipur Weightlifting Association congratulated the young lifter for his achievement at the world championship and extended best wishes for his future career.
“It’s a proud moment for us that young Indian Weightlifters shows a good game in the 2023 IWF Youth Men & Women World Weightlifting Championships at Durres, Albania Indian Weightlifting team achieved 3 more medals on the second day of 2023 IWF Youth Men & Women World Weightlifting Championships at Durres, Albania