The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Grand Prix II Weightlifting tournament, which begins on Monday in Doha, Qatar, will include five weightlifters from India competing. According to Olympics.com, the competition is a qualifier for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and will end on December 14. Ten distinct weight categories will be used for the competitions: 45kg, 49kg, 55kg, 59kg, 64kg, 71kg, 76kg, 81kg, 87kg, and +87kg for women, and 55kg, 61kg, 67kg, 73kg, 81kg, 89kg, 96kg, 102kg, 109kg, and +109kg for men.
Two ladies and five lifters in all will be sent from India. Men’s 73 kg will include national champion Ajith Narayan and gold medallist Achinta Sheuli from the Commonwealth Games. Indian lifter Mirabai Chanu, a 2017 World Champion and silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, will be there for the weigh-in but won’t be lifting since she is still healing from an injury she suffered in October while competing in the Hangzhou Asian Games, where she placed fourth. Chanu having accomplished it earlier in the year at the World Weightlifting Championships 2023. Lifters must compete in the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup in order to maintain their qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The 2022 World Championships, the 2023 Continental Championships, the 2023 Grand Prix I, the 2023 Grand Prix II, and the 2024 Continental Championships are the events in which a lifter must compete in at least three of them, except the two mandatory tournaments. Olympic weight-class lifers’ efforts in the IWF Grand Prix II, one of the qualifying events for the 2024 Olympics, will be awarded with OQR (Olympic Qualification Ranking) points.
The competitors’ best overall performance (snatch + clean and jerk) in qualifying contests will determine how many points they get. After the qualification cycle concludes in April 2024, the top 10 athletes based on OQR—one highest-ranked athlete per country from each weight category—will get Olympic quotas for their respective countries. A silver medallist in the Commonwealth Games, Bindyarani Devi will compete in the non-Olympic women’s 55kg weight class. Gurdeep Singh, the bronze medallist from the CWG, will compete in a non-Olympic weight class, the +109kg.
India team
*Mirabai Chanu – women’s 49kg (Group C)
*Bindyrani Devi – women’s 55kg (Group A)
*Achinta Sheuli – men’s 73kg (Group B)
*Ajith Narayan – men’s 73kg (Group C)
*Gurdeep Singh – men’s +109kg (Group B)
IWF Grand Prix II Weightlifting 2023: Schedule and live start times for Indian lifters
As per Indian Standard Times (IST)
December 4, Monday
Women’s 49kg (Group C) – 4:00 PM
Women’s 49kg (Group B) – 6:00 PM
December 5, Tuesday
Women’s 49kg (Group A) – 8:30 PM
**December 6, Wednesday
Men’s 73kg (Group C) – 3:30 PM
Women’s 55kg (Group A) – 5:30 PM
**December 7, Thursday
Men’s 73kg (Group B) – 3:00 PM
Men’s 73kg (Group A) – 8:30 PM
**December 14, Thursday
Men’s +109kg (Group B) – 1:00 PM
Men’s +109kg (Group A) – 6:30 PM.
