I have let everybody down: Chanu-Oct 5, 2010

I have let everybody down: Chanu

Biswajyoti Brahma, TNN, Oct 5, 2010, 02.45am IST


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NEW DELHI: She had just won India's first medal at these Commonwealth Games, but Soniya Chanu was inconsolable.

Her silver in the 48kg weightlifting competition lifted spirits of many but for Soniya, the greater test was holding back tears. Ultimately, she let go.

There were no tears in the men's 56kg later when Sukhen Dey lifted 252kg (Snatch: 112 + Clean-Jerk: 140) to give India its second silver in lifting. V Srinivas Rao (248kg, 107+141) earned bronze, while Malaysia's Amirul Ibrahim took gold with a lift of 257 kg (116+141).

It was such a different tale earlier in the women's 48kg. India's best bet in weightlifting knew that she was done in by her own demons. "I have let everyone down," Soniya said, tears streaming down her face. "I am feeling very bad that I could not win the gold. I feel God was not on my side today. I was quite unlucky."

Soniya - a 30-year-old inspector with the UP Police - started favourite in the 48kg. But she faltered in the snatch event, where she faulted in two out of three of her attempts. Two more failed attempts in clean and jerk ensured that the gold went to Nigerian schoolgirl Augustina Nkem Nwaokolo. The Std XII student from Lagos was making her first appearance in an international event. Her dream debut came with a new Games record in the 48kg category. The bronze was won by India's Sandhya Rani Devi Atom.

She did not admit it, but Soniya probably got bogged down by the burden of expectations. "Two failed attempts in snatch happened due to technical reasons," her coach Harnam Singh, who was quite disappointed with the performance of his "sure shot gold medallist", said later. "Winning the gold medal was well within her range," he added.

Soniya, whose best is 179kg (100 kg in clean and jerk and 79 kg in snatch), lifted 73 kg in snatch in her first and only valid lift and another 94 in clean and jerk for a combined total of 167. The Nigerian lifted 77 in snatch and 98 in clean jerk for a total of 175. The seventeen-year-old Nkem set a Games record in snatch, clean and jerk as well as total categories. The previous records were in India's Kunjarani Devi's name.

"I am happy for breaking so many records. I believed I could do it," said Nkem, whose only failure came when she went for 100kg in her third and final attempt in clean and jerk.

Unlike Soniya, Sandhya Rani was quite elated about her achievement. She had reasons too. "I had lost hopes of winning a medal after the snatch event, but made a good comeback later to finish on the podium," she said. Sandhya lifted 70kg in snatch, 95kg in clean and jerk for a total of 165kg. Her total was equal to that of Zaira Zakaria of South Africa, but the Indian was awarded the bronze on lesser bodyweight.