KARACHI: Pakistan’s ace weightlifter Talha Talib on Friday won the country’s first-ever medal at the World Weightlifting Championship by winning a Bronze at the snatch event in the 67 kilogramme category.
The 22-year-old weightlifter from Gujranwala struggled at first, but he still managed to create history for Pakistan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Talib lifted 143kg in his first attempt in the snatch event in the 67kg competition.
His following attempts of lifting 146kg and 147kg were unsuccessful, but the lift of 143kg in the first attempt was enough for him to secure a medal for Pakistan. It is the first medal of Pakistan in World Weightlifting Championship.
Unfortunately, Talha couldn’t continue his run in clean and jerk events and missed all three attempts aiming to lift 165kg, subsequently missing another certain medal.
Last year, Talha won the Bronze medal in same category at the Asian Championship. The performance earned him a place at Tokyo Olympics, where he finished 5th.
The performance at the Olympics brought him into the limelight and the country’s sports authorities assured him full support for future events. Earlier, Pakistan’s two other weightlifters in the championship — Sharjeel Butt and Abubakar Ghani couldn’t make their mark.
Next in action from Pakistan at the tournament will be Hanzala Dastagir Butt in the 109kg competition on December 16 and Nooh Dastagir Butt in the 109+kg competition on December 17.
