Weightlifting: 3 Ghanaians in Mauritius for Commonwealth Games qualifiers

Three crack Ghanaian lifters including two females are in the Island of Mauritius to firm up a place in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

They are WinifredNtumi and Sandra MensimahOwusu, who are expected to compete in the women 49kg and 55kg categories respectively on Saturday, whilst the veteran UK-based Forrester Christopher Osei (Men 96kg) takes his turn on Sunday, February 27. The athletes left on Tuesday evening and were accompanied by their coach Michael Abotsi.

The Mauritius International Open Weightlifting Championships, which is a Commonwealth qualification event for Africa, is the final qualification opportunity for the continent and athletes who wish to compete in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games have to earn qualification, following a revision of the participation criteria.

The weight categories being competed for are as follows: men: 55kg, 61kg, 67kg, 73kg, 81kg, 96kg, 109kg, and +109kg, and women: 49kg, 55kg, 59kg, 64kg, 71kg, 76kg, 87kg, and +87kg.

Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded in each bodyweight category for both men and women in the total only.

In December last year, Sandra Owusu was compelled to slash off 10kg of her body mass in two weeks to be able to participate in the 55-weight class at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World and Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. And, though she could not win a medal, the determined lady was able to garner enough points to place fifth – sticking out a foot in Birmingham.

BuoyantWinifredNtumi grabbed bronze in the same championship, to put herself in good position for a place in the quadrennial Games.

The weightlifting of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham is expected to run from July 30 to August 3.

BY JOHN VIGAH