Imphal, Nov. 22: Madhusudan of Chhattisgarh won the first gold medal in the 4th Youth (Boys and Girls) and Junior National Weightlifting Championship 2007 in the Special Area Games hall of the Khuman Lampak Sports Complex.

He lifted 79kg in clean and jerk and 95kg in snatch for a tally of 174kg in the sub-junior boys’ 50-kg category.

M. Itomba Singh of Manipur won silver with a lift of 75kg in clean and jerk and 95kg in snatch, totalling 170kg. Udhaya Kumar of Tamil Nadu bagged the bronze with 75kg in clean and jerk and 90kg in snatch for a total of 165kg.

Lifters from 15 states participated in this category. As many as 325 participants, including officials from 24 states, have registered with the organising committee.

Among the 267 competitors in the meet, 111 are women.

Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh inaugurated the championship. He said it was encouraging to see such enthusiasm in sporting events in the state despite unrest over militancy.

Ibobi Singh said lifters like N. Kunjarani Devi and B. Sanamacha Chanu were an inspiration for other Manipuri sportspersons. He hoped lifters from Manipur would shine in the Youth Commonwealth Games, to be held in Pune next year.

The president of the Indian Weightlifting Federation, Harbhajan Singh, and the organisation’s general secretary, Balbir Singh, said they were impressed by the quality of sportspersons Manipur had been producing.