Sanket Sargar’s heroic assault on the gold medal came in vain, but silver at his debut Commonwealth Games augurs well for the 21-year-old Sangli lad. Fighting off a dislocated shoulder, he ran Malaysian Mohamad Aniq bin Kasdan close. After successfully lifting 135 kg to begin his final, he felt a snap in his shoulders while lifting 139 kilos on his second try. Pushing on, he attempted the same weight on his third and final try but couldn’t jerk past his shoulder.
Also Read: Commonwealth Games 2022: Sanket Sargar injury, what happened
Irrespective, his efforts earned him praise from all quarters, including the Prime Minister (seemingly enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon, unlike us). But while politicians stumble to shower praise on medal-winning athletes at the earliest, a better marker of sporting prowess is perhaps the pats from fellow sportspersons, both current and retired.
Olympic gold medal-winning shooter Abhinav Bindra led the wishes on Twitter:
“Congratulations Sanket Sargar for winning the Silver medal in Weightlifting (Men’s 55kg) and opening India’s account at the Commonwealth Games 2022. Wishing you a swift and complete recovery from injury.”
Former Indian hockey captain and MD and CEO of Olympic Gold Quest India, Viren Rasquinha, commiserated with the youngster on Twitter:
“Really feel for Sanket Sargar. That is one painful way to win your first ever medal at the CWG, in more ways than one. Physically, the elbow looks bad. Mentally, to lose the Gold by 1 kg in the final lift by the Malaysian will hurt longer. We should all be proud of Sanket.”
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was not far behind, expressing pride at Sargar’s achievements:
“Well done #SanketSargar for winning India it’s first medal at the Commonwealth Games, brilliant effort. Proud of your Silver #CWG.”
Also Read: CWG 2022: Sanket Sargar on landing in second spot due to elbow injury
1996 Olympic bronze-medalist Leander Paes also tweeted his wishes to the lifter for securing India’s first medal at Birmingham:
“Well done Sanket Mahadev Sargar! India’s first medal at
@birminghamcg22. First silver medal to open our tally and hopefully many more to be added soon. Good luck to all other athletes participating!”
