Throwing their weight around

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In the wide panorama of national weightlifting, Kerala has remained a blur for several years, being deprived of basic facilities and having no dedicated lifters. But in the recent months a group of young lifters has signaled a change in fortunes for the state.

Kerala lifters won two medals in the national sub-junior and junior championship held at Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh last month, which was the biggest ever achievement by the state in the particular level of competition.

Krishna Kumar and Muneer M.S. had won bronze medals in the championship and it was the second time Malayalis won at the national level. It is perhaps a coincidence that their coach Chithra Chandramohan was the first to do so.

Chithra, now an NIS certified coach, also the coach of the national junior team had won a silver medal in the 63 kg category in the national championship held at Kozhikode in 2003.

Apparently, Krishna Kumar became the first male lifter from Kerala to win a medal in the national championship when he took bronze in the 94 kg category and Muneera's bronze in the 63 kg category, became the second by a Malayali women.

“It was the best performance by a Kerala team in the nationals and we are proud about it. We had missed another medal by a small margin as Karthik M.S., who finished third in clean & jerk missed bronze in the overall result,” said Chithra, who had coached the national sub-junior team that won seven medals, including 3 gold in the Commonwealth weightlifting championship held in Cape Town, South Africa in October.

Meanwhile, Kerala also had a few notable performances in the national schools championship that was held in Durg, Chhattisgarh a few months ago.

Kerala girls Swathi Krishna and Asha C. had won silver and bronze medals respectively in the championship.

“The recent successes are a positive sign that we are changing the trend. We are sure with more exposure these boys and girls will produce better results,” said Chithra. Harbin C. Lonappan and Kabeer coached the state team.

Kerala has now fielded an 8-member contingent for the senior national championship to be held at Orissa from Dec 24 to 28. The Kerala team comprises Sony Mol, Vibitha P. V., Swathi Krishna, Siya A. J., Karthik M. S., Nishanth E.S., Savad M. and Rathilal C.T.

“The senior nationals will be quite tough and the level of competition will be much higher, but it will be a much needed exposure for our boys and girls,” added Chithra.