India shines at World Powerlifting Championship

Mukesh Singh Gehlot (125kg Raw) and Gaurav Sharma (140kg+ Raw) have won gold medals in their respective categories at the World Powerlifting Championship here.

Gehlot, who had earlier won gold in 2013, became world champion for the second time late on Wednesday night.

Vaibhav Rana (125kg Raw) and Kanwardeep Singh (110kg Raw) also took silver in their respective events to take the Indian medal tally to four on the opening day of the three-day event.

Sujit Khatri (100kg Raw) ranked fourth in his weight class.

Kanwardeep had taken silver in the last edition as well and has thus repeated his performance. Gaurav Sharma earlier won gold at the Commonwealth Championship in New Zealand.

"I am very happy to have won a medal and that too a gold. I want to dedicate this medal to my country and my coach Bhupender sir. Its a tough championship but my hard work and my coach's guidance helped me a lot. I wish to win more of such events," Gaurav Sharma told IANS after his win.

"Tomorrow I have another event in the championship, I hope to win gold in that category too," he added.

India coach Bhupender Dhawan heaped praise on his wards, asserting that the team is in great shape and he expects them to bag more medals over the remaining two days.

--IANS

ajb/bg