Weightlifter wins precious medal but dislocates shoulder, is out for 2 months. After being asked by coaches to lift through pain; Gururaja wins bronze
It was a classic case of so near yet so far for Sanket Sargar as an untimely injury robbed the Indian weightlifter of a possible gold medal in the men's 55kg category.
A mere 1 kg and a final attempt separated Maharashtra's Sargar and the eventual gold medallist, Malaysia's Bin Kasdan Mohamad Aniq, from the top of the podium finish at the NEC Arena. Sargar settled for silver with an overall effort of 248kg (113 s natch+135 clean & jerk). The Malaysian lifted 142kg a Games record in his final attempt of the clean and jerk round to claim the honours with a total lift of 249kg ( 107+142). Sri Lanka's Dilanka Isuru Kumar a (225kg) settled for the bronze.
Hours later, Gururaja Poojary made it two out of two for India in weightlifting as he won a bronze in the men's 61kg final in a see-saw battle with Canada's Youri Simard.
In the clean and jerk section, Gururaja needed to pull off his personal best lift of 151kg in his final attempt to get into medal contention, and the Indian did exactly that.
The 29-year-old from Karnataka's Udupi put up a tremendous fight after debutant Youri had lifted 149kg in his final attempt to finish ahead of the Canadian with an overall effort of 269kgs (118kg+151kg). The gold was won by Malaysia's Aznil Bin Bidin Muhamad (285kg) while Papua New Guinea's Morea Baru took silver (273kg).
However, it was Sargar who endured a massive heartbreak after an ill-advised move by the Indian coaching staff resulted in a shoulder dislocation for the three-time national champion. Sargar was very much in sight of a gold after successfully attempting a 113kg lift in his snatch round, six clear of his Malaysian opponent.
In the clean and jerk, he put his Malaysian opponent under considerable pressure with his first lift of 135kg. Aniq bettered the mark with a lift of 138kg, with the Indian still in the overall lead. But while attempting his next unsuccessful lift of 139kg, Sargar overstretched his ligaments and, in the process, tweaked his right elbow. He grimaced in pain and rushed back to the warm-up area, where he was attended by a doctor who advised him to not push his limits.
Aniq, too, failed to register his second lift of 142kg and it boiled down to that one final attempt to decide the winner.
That's when the foolishness happened. In their bid to give India a first gold medal from the weightlifting arena, the coaches instructed Sargar to push through the pain, realising the consequences of such a dreadful move. The Indian, just 21, followed their command and climbed onto the rostrum to attempt an ambitious 142kg with an injured elbow. He couldn't complete the lift and partially dislocated his shoulder which, according to sources, has ruled him out for at least two months.
