Lifter Gururaja opens India's medals account.

Summary: Fijian Tulo keeps the top three lifters on their toes

IANS

Gold Coast: Gururaja bagged the first medal for India at the 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games with silver in the men's 56 kilogram category.

Gururaja had a best attempt of 111kg in the snatch and 138kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 249kg.

Izhar Ahmad of Malaysia won gold with a new Commonwealth Games record of 261kg.

Izhar, who had emerged champion at the Commonwealth Championships last year, bettered the previous Games record by one kilogram.

He also set a new Games record in the snatch with a successful lift of 117kg in his second attempt. He bettered the previous record of 116kg set by his compatriot Ibrahim at the New Delhi Games in 2010.

He cleared 144kg in the clean and jerk which his personal best.

Chaturanga Lakmal of Sri Lanka claimed bronze with a total of 248kg. He managed 114kg in the snatch and 134kg in clean and jerk.

Manueli Tulo of Fiji showed a lo of heart and loads of fighting spirit to take the fourth position with a total of 239 kilograms.

The Fijian kept the top three lifters on their toes for much of the event and was in contention for the bronze before falling considerably off the pace with two failed attempts in the clean and jerk.

Gururaja started on a promising note, taking the lead with his very first attempt in the snatch with a successful attempt of 107 kilograms.

Tulo produced a lift of 108kg in his second attempt. But his attempt was ruled out by the jury due to a technical fault.

Lakmal claimed the top spot immediately after with a successful lift of 110kg in his first attempt.

Gururaja then failed in his second attempt of 111kg. But he managed to lift that weight in his third and final attempt to take the lead for the time being.

Izhar however, blew away the competition, starting his campaign with a successful lift of 114 kilograms.

He then broke the existing Games record by clearing 117kg in his second attempt.

But his attempt to better the Games record further came to nought when he failed to clear 119kg in his third and final attempt.

Lakmal set the early pace in the clean and jerk stage with an attempt of 131kg in first attempt.

He failed at 134kg in his second attempt before clearing the same weight in his third.

Tulo however, overtook the lead with 135kg in his first attempt, much to the delight of the sizeable crowd present at the arena.

His chances of finishing on the podium took a beating however, as he failed to lift 140kg in his second attempt.

Desperate to make up on lost ground, he decided on a brave but ultimately futile attempt to match the existing Games record of 145kg, which saw him crash out of contention for medal.

Izhar was however, in a different league altogether. He cleared 134kg in his first attempt before sealing the gold with 138kg in his second.

He then celebrated with a personal best of 144kg in his third attempt.

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