Pukar Gurung of Nepali Army and Tara Devi Pun of Nepal Police were crowned with the ‘Nepal’s Strongest’ honour at the Sunil Lal Joshi Memorial Weightlifting Championships which ended late night on Wednesday.

Both the lifters were class apart in winning their respective weight division gold medals on Wednesday. In a late night game, Gurung powered to victory in the senior men’s above 109kg division, setting three new national records in the process. Gurung lifted 127kg in snatch and 151kg in clean & jerk for a total lift of 278kg. Gurung broke his own record which he had set during the eighth National Games. He bettered his previous mark by one kilogram in both snatch and clean & jerk, meaning the total lift also improved by two kilograms. Gurung’s nearest competitor Rajiv Maharjan of Nepal Police lifted 212kg in total.

Pun won the senior women’s 76kg weight division gold with a total lift of 170kg. She lifted 72kg in snatch and 98kg in clean & jerk, which was a new national record. Jayanta Shrestha of APF Club finished in a distant second with a total lift of 115kg. Both Pun and Gurung received Rs 10,000 each as rewards.

In the late match on Wednesday, Sandesh Gurung of Nepal Police struck senior men’s below 109kg division title. He lifted 106kg in snatch and 135kg in clean & jerk for a total lift of 241kg. His 106kg snatch was a new national record, six kilograms better than the previous mark which the lifter himself had set.

In the junior men’s 109kg division, Sagar Pandey of Kanchanpur set national records in clean & jerk and total lift. Pandey lifted 105kg in snatch and 138kg in clean & jerk for a total lift fo 247kg.

Subash Upadhyaya of Kanchanpur set national records in all three classes on his way to clinch the senior men’s 102kg division. Upadhyaya lifted 103kg in snatch, 130kg in clean & jerk for a total lift of 233kg. He broke Sagar Bhandari’s previous mark of 102kg in snatch, 122kg in clean & jerk and 224kg in total. Bhandari had set the mark during the eighth National Games.

Nepal Police lifter Gagan Chand clinched the men’s 96kg weight division gold medal. Chand lifted 98kg in snatch, 130kg in clean & jerk for a total lift of 238kg. His teammate Sri Krishna Maharjan claimed silver with a total lift of 198kg while APF lifter Devendra BK won bronze with a total lift of 192kg.