As many as five athletes will represent India in the 84th Men's and 27th Women's World Weightlifting Championships (WWC) slated to be held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan from November 1 to 10. The international weightlifting federation released the list on Monday.
West Bengal's Achanta Sheuli in men's(73 kg) and Rakhi Halder in women's (64 kg) category have been shortlisted.
Ajay Singh will be vying for glory in 79 kg category. Punjab's Gurdeep Singh will sweat it out in men's 109 kg division. Odisha's Jhili Dhalabeera will fight for the top honours in women's 49 kg division.
The competition is significant since it will considered as qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Thus, it is to be considered as first important milestone on the road leading to Tokyo.
A record total of 693 athletes from 91 countries will compete in Ashgabat. It is the most in any world championships. Paris 2011 had earlier topped the number of participating countries with 87, while Athens 1999 topped the participating athletes with 626 lifters. The 2018 IWF World Championships will also feature the new bodyweight categories for both Men and Women.
The last two Weightlifting World Championships were held in the United States (Houston in 2015 and Anaheim in 2017) and the 2018 Worlds will be the first held in Asia since Antalya, Turkey hosted the 2010 competition. The IWF has said that Turkmenistan's successful job hosting the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games was part of the reason they were selected. The 2018 WWC was originally slated to be held in Lima, Peru.
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