Imphal, June 29: Five Manipur women lifters reaped a rich haul of 15 gold in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in Malta held during June 26 to 27.The five Manipuri women, who were in the eight-member Indian squad, are Sandhyarani (48 kg), Renubala (58 kg), Monica (69 kg), Nanshita (75 kg) and Geetarani (above 75 kg).

They all bagged three gold each in clean and jerk, snatch and overall totaling 15 gold medals while two women lifters belonging to other states bagged two golds.

The championship was hosted by Malta Weightlifting Federation at the Cottonera Sports Complex on June 26 and 27.Lifters from 15 Commonwealth countries took part in the championship.

It can be mentioned here that two top performers (women) in the just concluded championship (Commonwealth) are slated to join four lifters - N Kunjarani Devi (Manipur), Karnam Malleswari, Sanamacha Chanu (Manipur) and Pratima Kumari, who are currently in the final phase training in Belarus as part of preparations for the Olympics.

The Indian Weightlifting Federation would eventually pick four out of those six women lifters to participate in the Athens Olympics.

Based on the performance in the world championship last year, India has secured the maximum four berths for woman lifters at the Olympics.

None of the player from Manipur is qualified for the Athens Olympics till today.

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