Subham Todkar wins men’s 61kg gold

Charu Pesi’s delight turns into disappointment as his last attempt is called fault

It was an anti-climax for Services’ Charu Pesi.

He completed his last clean-and-jerk attempt of 154kg and jumped in joy believing he had won the gold. But, a few seconds later, there was gloom as the jury decided that the lift was faulty. The gold thus went to Subham T. Todkar of Railways, who had cleared 152kg for a total of 271 in the men’s 61kg category of the National weightlifting championships here on Saturday.

Charu had to settle for silver with a total of 267.

Subham, the 25-year-old from Pune, couldn’t believe his luck. This was his maiden National gold after two silvers in Visakhapatnam (2019) & Patiala (2021). “It’s a great experience. I was lucky!” he told The Hindu.

It was a close fight between Subham and Charu throughout. In snatch, Subham lifted 119kg, 1kg more than Charu. In clean & jerk, the difference was 3kg; 152 to Charu’s 149.

Charu was obviously upset with the verdict. “I don’t know what was wrong with my lift,” he said.

Shankar Lapung of Arunachal Pradesh won the junior men’s gold while Golom Tinku (Arunachal) finished first in youth men’s.