Apia (Samoa), Jul 9: Former world champion Mirabai Chanu led the Indian medal rush by notching up a gold on the opening day of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship here on Tuesday.
The Indian contingent won 13 medals that included eight gold, three silver and two bronze medals in senior, junior and youth categories.
Mirabai lifted a total of 191kg (84kg + 107 kg) in the senior women's 49 kg event to win the gold medal in the Olympic qualifying event, the points from which will come in handy for the final rankings of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Mirabai last took part at the Asian Championship in Ningbo, China in April where she lifted 199kg (86kg+113kg) to miss out on a medal by a whisker.
The qualification process for the 2020 Olympics is based on the performances of the weightlifters in six events over a period of 18 months out of which the four best results logged by a lifter will be considered.
Jhilli Dalabehra also clinched the first place on the podium with a lift of 154kg (70kg+94kg) in the senior women's 45 kg event which is not an Olympic weight category.
In the senior women's 55kg, Soroikhaibam Bindyarani Devi and Matsa Santoshi won the gold and silver medals respectively.
Bindyarani lifted 78 kg in snatch to bag the silver medal. Her effort of 105 kg fetched her a gold medal in clean and jerk as well as the overall gold.
Santoshi stood first in snatch with a lift of 80kg but could only manage 102kg in clean and jerk taking her total to 182kg.
In the senior men's 55kg category, Rishikanta Singh grabbed the gold with a total lift of 235kg (105kg+130kg).
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Ranipet (PTI): At least four pilgrims from Kolar were killed when the bus they were travelling in was involved in an accident with a vegetable-laden truck and another heavy vehicle here on Thursday, police sources said.
The victims, mostly hailing from Kolar, were returning home in a KSRTC bus after visiting a temple near Chennai, the sources said.
About 30 persons were injured in the accident.
The accident happened when the KSRTC bus was heading towards Bengaluru with around 55 passengers, and the driver overtook a tipper lorry. The bus rammed into the vegetable-laden truck coming from opposite direction. The tipper lorry also hit the KSRTC bus from the behind. TV visuals showed the bus having suffered severe damage under the impact.
All the four deceased persons were killed on the spot. The injured have been referred to nearby hospitals, they said.