Weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga in race against time to qualify for Tokyo Olympics

Youngster Jeremy Lalrinnunga will be racing against time to make the cut for the Tokyo Olympics at the upcoming Junior World Championships in Uzbekistan. The event, scheduled to be held from May 21-31, is the final Olympic qualifier in the sport.

Ranked 26th in the 67kg category, Jeremy will have to move up by six places in the rankings table to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. He would have to improve on his personal best of 306kg (140kg in snatch and 166kg in clean and jerk) by another four kilograms to be able to punch a Tokyo ticket.

Lifting an aggregate of at least 310kg at the Junior World Championships could potentially help the Youth Olympics gold medalist climb up the ladder. Jeremy will have to move ahead of South Korea's Myeongmok Han, who is placed 20th, in the ‘gold level' ranking event.

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Jeremy Lalrinnunga confident of overcoming knee injury

Jeremy sustained what appeared to be a serious knee injury during the Asian Championships in Tashkent last month. The injury took its toll on his performance and he finished a lowly eighth in the event.

He has undergone an MRI scan and doctors have advised him to avoid putting weight on the injured knee. Jeremy, who is currently training at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala, is convinced about his recovery.

"I am focusing more on strengthening right now. I have started doing light training with the world event around the corner. I still have more than a fortnight to recover. I hope to compete in the Uzbekistan event and earn requisite ranking points," Jeremy recently told The New Indian Express.