Mumbai: For Harjinder Kaur, this Commonwealth Games (CWG) carried greater importance. Not just because the weightlifter wanted to upgrade her bronze medal from four years ago.
“Because by the time the next CWG comes, I’ll be almost 34,” she said with a chuckle.
As if on cue, Harjinder came up with her best lifts in the 69kg category in Glasgow to grab hold of the silver medal. She produced clean lifts across all her six attempts, with her 101kg in snatch and 126kg in clean and jerk delivering a total of 227kg and another podium finish for India in weightlifting. Both her last attempts in snatch and clean and jerk were competitive personal bests in the category, and so was the total.
Gold medallist Charlotte Simoneau was a fair distance away – the Canadian lifted a Games record 240kg (108kg in snatch and 132kg in clean and jerk) – and so was the Indian from Australia’s bronze medallist Nya Hayman (218kg total, 97kg snatch and 121kg clean and jerk).
Harjinder will turn 30 this October. In the Indian weightlifting contingent at this CWG, she is the second oldest woman, after Mirabai Chanu, 31. But while Mirabai became the 48kg world champion in 2017, Harjinder got into weightlifting only in 2016.
Growing up in a modest family of farmers in Punjab’s Mehas village, Harjinder was initially into kabaddi. Weightlifting only came about during her university days in Patiala, and by then she had turned 20.
“Kuch cheeze late hi honi hoti hai (some things are meant to happen late),” Harjinder told HT from Glasgow.
She may have come late into the sport, but doesn’t look back on her pre-lifting days as time lost.
“Maybe I could sit back and say that if I had started earlier, it would have been better. But I don’t look at it that way,” she said. “I believe I was mature by the time I got into weightlifting and realised that if I want to do something in the sport, I will have to focus even more. I knew I didn’t have a lot of time, so I had to get down to working hard immediately.”
After a silver at the 2021 Commonwealth Championships, she won bronze at the 2022 CWG in 71kg. With that category struck off, Harjinder had to move down to 69kg, which she “found very difficult” at the start, given her natural body weight was around 74-75kg (it is now 71-72kg).
She finished fourth overall (217kg) and third in snatch (96kg) at the Asian Championships in Gandhinagar in May. Two months on, she managed a creditable step up at a bigger stage.
Harjinder said she was pegged back by glute and back injuries during the Asian meet. Focussing on fitness and recovery while making minor technical changes, the training block leading into Glasgow lifted her mood and belief.
“I had a good feeling coming into this CWG, given how I was doing in training and how well I was lifting there. I was confident that I could get a medal here. But I wanted to change the colour from bronze,” she said.
“Whatever I thought I wanted to do in this competition, whatever I was lifting in training, I could replicate here. That gives me the most satisfaction.”
Equally satisfied are her parents whom Harjinder credits as a big support system even when their finances were extremely limited. “My parents stayed up to watch me (post midnight Tuesday), and haven’t slept all night,” she said.
The Income Tax inspector hopes to get a couple of days off for a quick home visit, but knows the Asian Games is not far away. She also knows that the continental challenge is going to be a different ballgame altogether.
“The Asian Games will be a lot tougher,” she said. “But now that I’ve given my best performance here, it gives me the belief that I can continue on this track and probably even do better. This medal has motivated me.”
Fine day for boxers
Like the lifters, boxers continued to add to India’s medal tally. The boxing contingent enjoyed an unblemished Wednesday with five boxers confirming medals after their respective quarter-final victories.
Sachin Siwach, Ankush Yadav and Sakshi Chaudhary earned unanimous decisions, while Narender Berwal (beat Michael Seko 3-2) and Arundhati Choudhary (beat Morgan Henderson 3-1) had some more work to do.
Kujur makes 200m semis
On the track, Animesh Kujur, part of India’s promising young sprinting group, ran a season best 20.46secs to qualify for the 200m semi-finals. Kujur won his Heat 4 ahead of Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (20.73secs).
Also advancing were shot putters Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Samardeep Singh Gill. Toor qualified for the final as second from Group A with a 20.14m throw (second attempt). Gill also was second in Group B at 19.95m (first attempt).
