Bedabrat Bharali.
| Photo Credit: K. Keerthivasan
All the National records in the youth men’s 67kg section — snatch (140 kg), clean and jerk (166) and total (306) — stand in the name of Jeremy Lallrinnunga of Mizoram, which he created four years ago in Doha, Qatar. It will take some doing for anyone to rewrite it or come close to his mark.
Compared to Jeremy, 15-year-old Bedabrat Bharali of Assam is a work in progress. Still, it was a memorable event for the boy from Dibrugarh as he bagged his first gold medal with a total lift of 259 kg in the youth men’s 67 kg of the National weightlifting championships here on Sunday.
Bedabrat lifted 119 kg in snatch ahead of his rival Kallol Mal who did 112, and though Kallol did far better in clean and jerk with a lift of 143 as compared to Bedabrat’s 140, the latter won on total margins.
The champion, however, was not satisfied with his performance. “I could have done better. I am not satisfied. This was not my best as I had done better in the State meets,” Bedabrat told The Hindu.
For Bedabrat, Jeremy — who is not taking part in the Nationals — is not an inspiration, but two-time Olympic gold medallist Lu Xiaojun of China [who, according to reports, tested positive for banned blood booster EPO recently]. “I like Jeremy. He has so much power and it is difficult to break his record,” said the Assam boy,
The results: Youth: Men: 67Kg: 1. Bedabrat Bharali (Asm) snatch 119, clean & jerk 140, total 259; 2. Kallol Mal (WB) 112, 143, 255; 3. Mahadev Vader (Mah) 113, 140, 253.