By Our Special Correspondent
Ann Mariya, 23, comes across as a jolly girl. Though she may not be fluent in English, her one-liners and replies during the media interaction made everyone chuckle on Wednesday. She always had her smile intact throughout the 20-minute conversation. But when she takes to the weightlifting platform, things change quite drastically. Ann draws a serious picture of herself, concentrating on the big task at hand.
Her class was on full show during the Khelo India University Games at the Jain University Global Campus here. She clinched gold in the +87kg category with a total lift of 230 kg. She also set the national record in clean and jerk, lifting 129kg to break Manpreet Kaur’s mark of 128. Her domination can be understood from the fact that T Satya Jothi from Acharya Nagarjuna University won silver with 189 kg, 41 kg less than Ann’s combined lift.
Interestingly, Ann, whose father is an auto driver, initially started her career in power lifting but quickly shifted to weightlifting and power lifting are different things. Weightlifting involves much more technique. But I did not have to unclear much. I did power lifting just for fun in my initial days, When young. So whatever training happened, it was only for weightlifting said Ann, who was also down with Covid last year. Her performance has improved ever since she joined Sports Authority of India, Benguluru around three years ago. She has been training under the watchful eyes of Coach Meenakshi Sundaram who has ensured that she follows a strict training schedule.
With her making the right noises of late the next few years are going to be important in Ann’s Career. The lifter has been selected to train at the Indian camp in Patiala, and her focus is on the Asian Games as of now after missing the trials for the Commonwealth Games. In her weight category Purnima Pandey is an established figure and Ann is ready to provide some stiff competition as she is eager to make a name for herself in India colours as well. Sundaram believes that Ann has it in her to shine further. I know that she is capable of lifting much more than what she has been doing. She can improve her game, but we need to have a good plan for that she needs competition. If that happens, there will be an improvement, else it will be difficult for her to improve if there is no challenge, said Sundaram.
Comments