Kathmandu, June 24:

Jhanta Kumari Katuwal of Nepal Police won the best woman lifter and the strongest woman of the year awards on the final day of the third Women and 18th Men’s National Weightlifting Championship organised by Nepal Weightlifting Association here today.

Fellow policeman Rakesh Ranjit won the best lifter’s award in the men’s section, while Gopal Bahadur Shrestha of Lalitpur bagged the strongest man of the year award. Katuwal won Rs 2,000 while Ranjit and Shrestha got Rs 1,000 each.

Earlier, Katuwal lifted a total of 144kg to win the gold medal in the 58kg category. Katuwal also broke her own six national records in the process.

Tara Devi Pun of Nepal Police broke her own three national records in the 69kg section with a lift of 143kgs — 67kg in snatch and 76kg in clean & jerk.

Another lifter from Nepal Police, Laxmi Bun won the honours in the above-75kg section. Bun lifted 50kg in snatch and 62kg in clean & jerk for a total of 112kg. Bun broke her own four national records in the process.

Uttam Khatri, also from Nepal Police, won the 58-kg section women’s gold medal lifting a total of 121kgs — 53kg in snatch and 68kg in clean & jerk.

In the men’s 94kg, Punti Lal Yadav of Saptari claimed gold with a total lift of 220kg — 95kg in snatch and 125kg in clean & jerk. Hasmuddin Ajad of Parsa and Bipendra Maharjan of Nepal Police won silver and bronze medal respectively. Bijendra Bahadur Shah of Parsa claimed the men’s 105kg gold. Shah lifted 90kg in snatch and 120kg in clean & jerk for a total of 210kg overall. Ramesh Mahato (190kg) of Parsa and Shatrughan Yadav (166kg) of Dhanusha finished second and third respectively.

Likewise, Gopal Bahadur Shrestha of Lalitpur won the 150kg section gold. Shrestha had a lift of 246kg — 110kg in snatch and 136kg in clean and jerk. Basanta Shrestha (155kg) of Nepal Police and Sanjay Phuyal (130kg) of Jhapa won silver and bronze respectively.

A total of 101 lifters — 76 men and 25 women — from 17 districts along with two departmental teams Nepal Police and Nepali Army participated in the three-day tournament, that offered a total of 15 gold medals.