Commonwealth Games: Weightlifter Harjinder Kaur claims bronze medal

Luck favoured Indian weightlifter Harjinder Kaur late on Monday when injury to one of the medal contenders propelled her to bronze in the women's 71kg category of Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The 25-year-old Indian accepted her fate for a fourth-placed finish with a total lift of 212 kg (93kg in snatch + 119 kg in clean and jerk) when Canada's Alexis Ashworth lifted a stunning 123kg in her final attempt to pip Harjinder by a kg.

However, an unexpected failure of Nigeria's Joy Ogbonne Eze — a prominent gold medal contender after lifting 100kg in snatch — to lift 125kg in her all three attempts meant she went out of the medal run and opened the bronze medal shot for Harjinder.

The gold medal eventually went to England's Sarah Davies, who fumbled her first attempt and almost injured herself but came back strongly to lift 126kg for the Games record.

She lifted 229kg (103kg in the snatch) in total for another Games record and the gold. With Harjinder's bronze, this was officially India's third medal on the day behind judokas L Shushila Devi (silver) and Vijay Kumar Singh (bronze). Apart from them PV Sindhu-led mixed badminton team also confirmed a medal by defeating Singapore to enter the final, where they will face Malaysia.

Also, the lawn bowl women's fours team also created history by reaching the final and ensuring another medal.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.