Satish from Tamil Nadu wins weightlifting gold at CWG

CHENNAI: It was a historic day for Tamil Nadu’s Satish Sivalingam who won gold in men’s 77kg weightlifting event at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow late on Sunday night.

Vellore-based Satish lifted a total of 328kg to outshine 2010 CWG gold medallist and countryman Ravi, who bagged silver with an effort of 317kg at the Clyde Auditorium. Francois Etoundi of Australia won bronze with a lift of 314kg.

Sivalingam, Satish’s father, was ecstatic after his son’s feat. “It was his first Commonwealth Games and to have won a gold is indeed a proud moment for all of us.

To have defeated Ravi in the process showed Satish’s strong mind and his penchant to stay calm under pressure,” said Sivalingam while speaking to TOI on Monday.

His coach Nagarajan felt Satish employed a tactical approach. “Satish waited for others to finish their turn before he came in. This meant he had an idea of what should be done to stay on top. Also, Satish was extremely calm which is needed at this level because one error on his part would have made him lose the top-3 spot,” said Nagarajan.