Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) lifters Kamala Shrestha and Dinesh Shrestha were declared the strongest lifters in the first Sunil Lal Joshi Memorial Weightlifting Championships on Thursday. 

In addition to that, Shrestha was also named the best player in the junior women’s section while her clubmate Sanju Shrestha was adjudged the best lifter in senior section. Kamala had set a new national record in junior 63kg category on Wednesday. Prakash KC of Banke won the best player award in men’s junior section and Olympian Kamal Bahadur Adhikari of TAC was named the best player in senior section.   

Kiran Gharti Magar of Kaski and Rasina Basnet of Parsa took home rising player award sin men’s and women’s section respectively.  

In the men’s 62kg category, Raju Chaudhary of TAC won gold with a lift of 80kg in snatch and 110kg in clean & jerk for a total lift of 190kg. Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club’s Rahul Kumar Das and Subash Kumar Shah secured silver and bronze. 

In the 69kg category, Yagya Bahadur Saru of TAC clinched gold lifting 200kg in total—85kg in snatch and 115kg in clean & jerk. Mahesh Chaudhary of APF and Jeevan Tamang of TAC won silver and bronze.

Olympian Adhikari, the best lifter in senior category, of TAC earned gold in men’s 77kg category with a total lift of 267kg. He snatched 110kg and had a clean & jerk lift of 157kg. Tilak Bahadur Thapa of APF and Aakash Kumar Patel of Parsa finished second and third. 

TAC’s Surendra Shrestha took home men’s 85kg gold with a total lift of 217kg. He snatched 97kg and 120 kg in clean and jerk to finish ahead of his club mate Dinesh Karki. Sujan BK of APF won bronze. 

Dinesh Shrestha of TAC won gold in men’s 105kg and his club mate Pukar Gurung won the same honour in above-105kg category. Shrestha snatched 110kg and had a lift of 148 kg in clean and jerked for a total of 258 kg. Gurung had a total lift of  250kg to claim title.