Sports News | Indian Weightlifter Shubham Todkar Eyeing Good Outing at World Championships
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. After underwhelming performances at two senior international events, Indian weightlifter Shubham Todkar is keen to give a better account of himself on his debut World Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia later this year.
Greater Noida, Jul 13 (PTI) After underwhelming performances at two senior international events, Indian weightlifter Shubham Todkar is keen to give a better account of himself on his debut World Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia later this year.
The 26-year-old national champion from Vadgaon Maval in Maharashtra has been among the top lifters on the domestic circuit in recent years but has failed to impress in the international arena.
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Shubham competed at the Asian Championships in May where he finished 10th. At the ongoing Commonwealth Championships he won the gold in a three-lifter field but his performance was far from satisfactory. In fact, Sidhanta Gogoi, competing in the junior category, out-performed him.
"My performance wasn't good. My body felt dull so I couldn't get the total weight I was expecting. But still I managed to win the gold. Thanks to God," Shubham told PTI after the win.
"For the World Championships I want to increase my snatch to 125kg and clean and jerk up till 155kg. I have lifted this in practice but I have to do it on the big stage," the soft- spoken lifter added.
At the Asian Championships, Shubham had lifted 263kg (116kg + 147kg) and, at the Commonwealth Championships, he heaved 259kg (115kg + 144kg) on Thursday.
However, the lifter has a personal best of 119kg in snatch 152kg in clean and jerk, which he lifted en route to a gold medal-winning performance at the National Championships earlier this year.
At the Commonwealth Championships he was surrounded by his family, who were extremely proud of his achievement, especially his father Tanaji Todkar.
"He has been working hard for a very long time and finally he has won a medal for India and that to a gold," Tanaji, a former national-level powerlifter said.
Tanaji wanted Shubham to get into powerlifting. But it was his coach who encouraged him to take up weightlifting.
"I wanted him to do lifting. I used to do it but my family background wasn't great so I had to give it up," said Tanaji, who is currently unemployed.
"I started lifting about 11 years ago when I was 15. My father was a national level powerlifter, he put me into powerlifting. I did that for 1-2 years. But my coach in the village told me weightliftng is an Olympic sport, so I switched."
Shubham soon rose the ranks, winning medals at the state and national level. But a knee injury set him back.
"I injured my knee during practice in 2018 and doctors said it would require surgery.
"Then I started preparing for a job. That took up a year of my time because you have to prepare, there are trials," said Shubham, who is employed by Railways.
Shubham finally went on to win gold at the senior nationals after clinching silver medals in 2019 and 2021, which allowed him to enter the national camp in Patiala and train under national coach Vijay Sharma.
"The national camp is very good, you don't have to worry about the nutrition etc. and I got to too train with the best athletes."
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)