Manipur: CWG silver medallist was successful Taekwondo player before switching to weightlifting

Our Correspondent
Imphal, Aug. 1 (EMN): Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 silver medallist Sorokhaibam Bindyarani Devi was a national Taekwondo player and achieved a black belt before she switched over to weightlifting nine years ago.

Speaking to Eastern Mirror, Bindyarani’s elder brother Sorokhaibam Suraj, shared, ‘Since childhood, my sister used to bring home medals during school games. Initially she played Thang-ta (traditional martial arts) and then was selected as Taekwondo player (by Sports Authority of India).She took up weightlifting a few years back’.

23-year-old Bindyarani Devi won India’s fourth weightlifting medal after successfully lifting 86kg in the third attempt at the snatch round and a 116kg lift in the final attempt at the clean and jerk round in the women’s 55kg category on the second day of the CWG 2022.

The entire family of Bindyarani at Langol Ningthou Leikai in the outskirts of Imphal, were sleepless on Saturday while watching her prosperous journey in weightlifting, a discipline she chose sometime in 2013 after winning many medals and becoming a successful taekwondo player at Sports Authority of India North Eastern Regional centre at Takyelpat in Imphal.

Bindyarani who has two sisters and one brother is the third child of daily wage earner Sorokhaibam Rajen Singh and local priestess Sorokhaibam Ongbi Ibemcha Devi.

Bindyarani’s mother said that they were really proud of her but the ongoing competition (Commonwealth Games) is not the end. “Her ultimate goal would be the Olympic Games,” she said.

Nigeria’s Adijat Adenike Olarinoye won the gold medal with a combined lift of 203kg, one more than Bindyarani Devi.