Imphal:
Mirabai Chanu, India's sole Olympic weightlifter, finished second in the women's 49kg Absolute Ranking released by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).
The chief minister of Manipur N.Biren Singh took to Twitter to congratulate the athlete on her remarkable achievement.
"Hearty congratulations to @mirabai_chanu on qualifying for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in Women's 49 Kg category. Mirabai Chanu has been ranked 2nd in the @iwfnet's Absolute Ranking List in the 49 Kg category. May your hard work and dedication bring laurels to the country," read the tweet.
Mirabai finished second in the IWF rankings, with 4133, 6172 Robi points, behind Chinese Hou Zhihui (4926, 4422).
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijuju too shared his good wishes to the Olympic-bound athlete from Manipur, India.
Mirabai's entry was sent by the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) once her spot in the 'world' quota was confirmed.
Chanu, the 2017 world weightlifting champion, qualified for Tokyo after taking bronze in the Asian Championships in Tashkent in April with a world record in clean and jerk.
Chanu had previously been placed fourth, but North Korea's withdrawal from the Olympics propelled the Indian to the second position.
This will be Chanu's second Olympic debut, five years after a disastrous performance in Rio, where she failed to lift any of the weights in clean and jerk, forcing her to withdraw from the showpiece.
Jeremy Lalrinnunga of India is ranked 12th in the men's 67 kg class and lost the continental quota to Korea's Hak Myeongmok, but the 18-year-old can still qualify. According to IWLF secretary Sahdev Yadav, Jeremy, a Youth Olympics medalist, still has a chance because quota reallocation is still underway.
"We have to wait until July 5 to know whether Jeremy qualifies for the Olympics," said Yadav.
The top eight lifters in each of the 14 weight categories, including seven in the women's group, are qualified to compete in the Games, according to IWF criteria.
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