No medals, lifters fire barbs at 145;meddle146;

India have yet to pick up a medal from two weightlifting events but their lifters showed they hadn8217;t lost any of their anger 8212; dir...

India have yet to pick up a medal from two weightlifting events but their lifters showed they hadn8217;t lost any of their anger 8212; directed at each other. 8216;8216;I am happy that I have done better than any other Indian woman lifter in Athens,8217;8217; said Sanamacha Chanu today after finishing fourth in the women8217;s 53-kg weightlifting competition.

Her statement was obviously directed at Kunjarani Devi, who was dropped to make way for Chanu for the Sydney Olympic Games four years ago. Chanu had then faced a lot of flak from the media and even Kunjarani made some uncharitable comment against her.

Indeed, Kunjarani had raised the issue yesterday, too, after finishing fifth in the 48-kg category. 8216;8216;I waited four years for this day. I was dropped from the team for Sydney and this time I thought I would give a fitting reply. Earlier it was the authorities who did not support me. This time it was God,8217;8217; she said between sobs after coming out of the Hall.

She then went on the offensive against officialdom. Things might have been better, she said, had the lifters been brought straight to Athens from Belarus, where the Indian team was training. 8216;8216;We wasted so much time travelling,8217;8217; she said. The team was forced to take a circuitous route after touching down in Delhi for the mandatory dope test.

Kunja8217;s outburst left team coach Pal Singh Sandhu looking embarrassed; he is, after all, employed by the Sports Authority of India, whose plan it was to have the test in Delhi. As it is, his stock with Kunja isn8217;t too high; the official Games data bank quotes the lifter as saying she learnt everything from Belarussian coach Leonid Taranenko. 8216;8216;And hardly anything from the Indian coaches.8217;8217;

Her parting shot was, typically, one of defiance: Even as Karnam Malleswari was consoling 8216;Kunja didi8217;, the diminutive lifter whispered: 8216;8216;I will not retire. I will be there in Beijing as well.8217;8217; Few would bet against it.

Chanu today was more circumspect about her future, speaking of marriage and settling down. 8216;8216;I want to marry now but I haven8217;t found the match yet,8217;8217; she said. 8216;8216;I would like to marry someone who would support me in weightlifting.8217;8217;

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Asked about retirement, she said: 8216;8216;Beijing is a long way yet.8217;8217;

If Kunja had come fourth, she would have joined Milkha Singh and PT Usha, but for her 30 extra grammes. Chanu managed it though.