Chinese weightlifters claim two golds
China took the first two gold medals at stake in the 2010 Asian Games weightlifting competition at the Dongguan Gymnasium on Saturday.
Wang Mingjuan ruled the women's under 48kg class while Wu Jingbiao won the men's under 56kg category.
Wang successfully defended her title in style, setting new Games' records in the snatch and total events.
The four-time world champion lifted 95kg in the snatch to break the mark she set at the 2002 Busan Asian Games by 5kg.
The 25-year-old then lifted 115kg in the clean and jerk for a total lift of 210kg, 4kg better than the previous record she set at the Doha Games four years ago.
"I was just thinking about trying to do my best, I wasn't pinpointing an Asian or world record," Wang said.
"I am a veteran and four years ago in Doha I was fortunate enough to get gold. But it's definitely more significant to win this gold in China."
Now that she has won another Asian Games gold, Wang is setting her sights on the 2012 London Olympics.
"I am preparing for London and I will try to do my best to take part there. I just want to be on the platform, I'm not even thinking about the podium," she said.
Thailand's Pensiri Laosirikul claimed the silver medal with a total lift of 192kg, just 1kg better than bronze medallist Chen Wei-ling of Chinese Taipei.
Laosirikul trailed Chen after the snatch but the Thai lifter managed to haul 109kg in the clean and jerk to edge the Taiwanese, who twice failed at 110kg.
"It's the first silver medal for Thailand in this event, I'm very happy," Laosirikul said.
Like Wang, Wu emerged victorious in his weight class. The reigning world champion easily topped a depleted field with a total lift of 285kg.
The 21-year-old set a new Asian record of 133kg in the snatch. He settled for a lift of 152kg in the clean and jerk after failing twice at 160kg. Wu broke the Asian Games snatch record of 130kg, which was set by China’s Wu Meijin in 2002.
Former world champion Cha Kum-chol of North Korea won the silver medal with a total lift of 276kg. Indonesian Jadi Setiadi snared the bronze with a 271kg effort.
The 56kg class, the lightest division in weightlifting, was contested without Chinese veteran Long Qingquan, Olympic silver medallist Ahn Tuan Hoang of Vietnam and Uzbek strongman Ruslan Makarov.
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