Vietnam’s Nguyen triumphant again
GEORGE TOWN: Vietnam’s Nguyen Quoc Bao Le successfully defended his boys’ 50kg gold medal on the opening day of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) 2016 Youth World Weightlifting Championships at the SPICE Arena.
The 16-year-old from Ho Chi Minh City lifted a total of 211kg yesterday to improve on the 202kg finish he achieved when winning the gold in the annual Under-17 championships in Lima, Peru last year.
Nguyen’s feat was more impressive as he missed out on both the snatch and clean and jerk gold medals in the event.
He could only settle for the silver in the snatch with a 95kg effort behind Thailand’s Natthawan Chamchuen, who made a successful 96kg lift.
In the clean and jerk, Ahmed Salim Al-Habsi delivered a first-ever weightlifting gold medal at the world stage for Oman with a 120kg finish. Colombia’s Jairo Garcia Perez (117kg) and Nguyen (116kg) took home the silver and bronze respectively.
“I am happy to retain the overall title I won in Peru, but a little disappointed that I could not pip the Thai lifter to the snatch gold medal,” said Nguyen who edged out Natthawan for the overall title because of his lighter body weight.
“I made an error during my first attempt at 90kg, and it cost me a valuable lift. However, I will be leaving Penang with medals of all three colours.”
Malaysia’s Elfrado Roy Matin, the son of former Malaysian Commonwealth Games silver medallist Matin Guntali, finished 12th out of 18 lifters in the event.
Elfrado, who competed in the B group earlier in the day, managed to lift a 178kg total. The 16-year-old posted successful lifts of 77kg in the snatch and 101kg in the clean and jerk.
In the girls’ 44kg, Colombia’s Manuela Zuluaga swept all three gold medals.
The 16-year-old, who narrowly missed out on the medals in the same event last year after finishing fourth overall, lifted a total of 154kg. It was a 12kg improvement on her 142kg finish in Lima in 2015.
Zuluaga finished ahead of Nur Vinatasari of Indonesia and Venezuela’s Rosielis Coromoto in all three snatch, clean and jerk and overall standings.
“Although I won a silver in the clean and jerk last year, it was heartbreaking to finish outside the medals in the overall count.
“I worked hard for the past one year, and all my effort has been repaid with the three gold medals today,” said the Colombian.
Malaysia’s 15-year-old lifter Tunik Nilcy finished ninth out of 10 competitors in the event with a 101kg total. She lifted 43kg in the snatch and 58kg in the clean and jerk.