New Delhi, Sept. 28 -- Saikhom Mirabai Chanu has called Japan her "happy hunting ground" after the Indian weightlifter ended her Asian Games medal drought in Aichi-Nagoya with a silver medal in the women's 49kg category. The Indian lifted a total of 198kg - 87 kg in snatch and 111 kg in clean & jerk - a huge 17kg behind gold medal winner Ri Song-gum of North Korea.

In the process, the Indian weightlifter filled the one glaring void in her glittering trophy cabinet, turning 12 years of waiting, near-misses and heartbreak into an Asian Games medal. Mirabai finished ninth on her debut in 2014 and missed the 2018 edition because of a back injury.

At the Hangzhou Games in 2023, she was within touching distance of the podium before a hip inju...