Mirabai Chanu exits World Cup with back; Gyaneshwari Yadav finishes eighth

India’s Mirabai Chanu (PTI Photo) Commonwealth Games silver medalist Gyaneshwari Yadav finished eighth in the women’s 53kg category at the IWF World Championships on Thursday, while India’s star weightlifter Mirabai Chanu pulled out of the event due to back problems.Gyaneshwari, 23, from Chhattisgarh, recorded a combined lift of 198kg, with 88kg in the snatch and 110kg in the throw, to top Group C. Her total was also better than those achieved by several competitors from Groups A and B.The Asian silver medalist could have bettered her personal best of 199kg and secured a higher overall if she had converted two missed attempts, one in each section.Chanu, meanwhile, was forced to pull out ahead of her much-anticipated debut in the 53kg category. She was placed in Group B with an entry total of 200 kg, but withdrew after back pain.The Chinese Zhang Haiqin won the gold medal with a total of 221 kg (98 kg + 123 kg). American Eleanor Ulrey won silver with 220 kg (98 kg + 122 kg), while North Korea’s So Hyon Kim secured bronze with 214 kg (91 kg + 123 kg).In the snatch competition, seven competitors also registered lifts of at least 90 kg, a benchmark that Chanu has been working towards for more than six years.At the World Championships, lifters are divided into groups based on their declared entry totals, which represent the combined weight they intend to lift in the catch and jerk. Group A contains those with the highest number of entries, followed by groups B, C and D.The World Championships are among the six events in the first phase of the qualification system for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.