Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu will undergo tests on October 3 in Mumbai to find out the severity of the thigh injury she suffered at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. Despite feeling some pain in her thigh during the warm-ups, Chanu went ahead with her six attempts in the women’s 49kg competition at the continental showpiece, which led to injury on Saturday. Chanu, who will fly back to India on Sunday, will be undergoing tests at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute in Mumbai. “We have to wait and find out the extent of her injury. She can’t put down her foot as of now. Tomorrow we will have some idea depending on if she is able to walk,” head coach Vijay Sharma told PTI over the phone from Hangzhou.
“We are trying to do all the the tests on Monday but since it’s 2nd October lets see if it is possible. Otherwise it will happen on Tuesday. We have spoken to a reputed doctor in Mumbai and booked appointment for October 4,” he added.
Earlier in the day, the 2017 world champion had managed to lift the 117kg bar which rested on her collarbone, ready to be jerked, but the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist’s hip gave up and she crumbled on the floor.
Lying on her back in agony, Sharma had to lift Chanu and carry her away from the platform in his arms. Had the two-time Commonwealth Games champion succeeded in lifting 117kg, she would have won the bronze medal.
After winning medals at the Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships, an Asian Games medal was the only silverware left to adorn the 29-year-old’s illustrious trophy cabinet.
“After snatch I asked her to pull out but she insisted on going through. She is mentally very tough and insisted that she’ll mange the lift and stand on the podium,” Sharma said.
Immediately after failing to clear her first 86kg snatch attempt, a grimace had spread on the former world champion’s face. But she persisted.
Sharma said had everything worked out, Chanu would have logged the much-anticipated 90kg lift in snatch.
“Mira (Chanu) has been lifting 90kg in training for the past 2-3 months. She lifted that in the selection trials as well.
“It’s unfortunate, Mira was oncourse for a medal. She was fit also. It’s all God’s doing. Last year she was at peak fitness and looked strong but the Asian Games were postponed by a year due to COVID,” Sharma said.
At the Asian Championships in May, a dodgy hip had forced her to skip the last two attempts, dashing her hopes of a medal.
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