QUZHOU, China, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Guangdong had a fruitful day at China's men's weightlifting national championships, sweeping all three medals in the 89kg category in Quzhou, east China's Zhejiang province on Saturday.
National record holder Liu Jiawen had a sluggish start, lifting only 160kg in the snatch in his only successful attempt, 10kg short of his own record. He managed to rally back in the clean and jerk, securing two golds with 203kg and 363kg overall. His Guangdong teammate Li Weihua bagged the snatch gold (170kg) and an overall silver, while Zheng Runxin took the overall bronze.
"My lifts were awful today, both in the snatch and the clean and jerk," an unhappy Liu told Xinhua, despite the two gold medals around his neck. "I feel I still have a lot to improve on before next year's National Games, where I want nothing but gold."
The 96kg category saw a dramatic ending. Fujian's Zhao Yongchao secured a snatch gold with a lift of 167kg, one kilogram heavier than Hunan's Tian Ye. Tian overturned the overall score with a successful 209kg lift in the clean and jerk, while Zhao failed with his 211kg attempt.
To avoid successive lifts and push for the championship, Zhao twice increased his weight for the final attempt to 213kg and Tian followed suit to increase to 215kg. With both competitors unsuccessful, Tian took the clean and jerk (209kg) and overall (375kg) gold.
"I expect this to be difficult because I saw some of my old rivals are here, but the biggest problem was that I did badly in the clean and jerk. I was eyeing 216kg beforehand but the result was far below my goal. I will learn from this experience," Tian said. Enditem
