Venkat Ragala bags gold in weighlifting at Asian Youth Games

Nanjing (China), Aug 21 (IANS) India won two more medals at the Asian Youth Games to expand their tally to eight here Wednesday.

Weightlifter Venkat Rahul Ragala won a gold in the 77 kg category while Shainki Nagar bagged a silver in the men’s 10-metre air pistol event.

Ragala lifted a cumulative total of 310 kg in the Snatch and Clean and Jerk to triumph in his category. The 16-year-old’s best came in his third attempt when he lifted 142 kg in Snatch and 168 kg in Clean and Jerk.

China’s Xingyu Lu, with a total of 285 kg, and Thai Pichet Maneesri (280 kg) won the silver and bronze respectively.

“It feels very good to win. I had a very comprehensive and hard training. This is my first title and I would like to win a medal at the Olympics and World Championships,” said Ragala.

In the shooting event, Nagar totalled 195.3 points in the finals and missed out on the gold which was won by China’s Wu Jiayu (195.5). Uzebekistan’s Refat Girfanov clinched the bronze with a score of 174.7 points.

Samarjit Singh too qualified for the final but managed only 134 points, finishing fifth.

Indians are participating as Independent Olympic Athletes as the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is suspended by the International Olympic Committee.

India has so far won two gold, two silver and four bronze medals.