Men's -97 kg - IPC Powerlifting World Championships

Another Paralympic champion was felled when Nigeria’s Abdulazeez Ibrahim (235kg) out-lifted Egypt’s London 2012 gold medallist Mohamed Eldib (230kg) in the men’s -97kg weight class.

Ibrahim, 35, who missed London 2012 due to injury, took an early lead lifting 224kg, but failed with his second lift of 230kg, a weight Eldib managed to take first place.

In the final round, Eldib looked to seal gold with a 233kg haul, but failed. Sensing victory, Ibrahim posted 235kg, 9kg more than his only other successful lift, to take the world title.

“It was not that I expected to win gold today but it depended on my preparation and I had confidence” said a delighted Ibrahim who put his rivals on notice by saying he was “seriously preparing” already for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

With injured pride despite bagging silver, Eldib made a lunge for the world record, attempting 0.5kg more than his 14-month-old mark of 240kg, but it was not to be.

An emotional Iraq’s Thaer Al-Ali (219kg) triumphed for bronze over China’s Dong Qi. Known as ‘fierce tiger’, Qi looked a strong contender for third place after he managed 216kg and Al-Ali failed at 217kg. However, in the final round the Iraqi bounced back lifting 219kg, a weight Qi failed to raise.

The junior title and new junior Americas record went to 18-year-old Argentinian Lucas Ezequiel Gareca (147kg) with Russia’s Denis Karasev (133kg) setting a new junior European record in silver and UAE’s youngster Ibrahim Almusaabi (90kg) in bronze.

The 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships, featuring over 330 athletes from nearly 60 countries, run from 5-11 April and are the first opportunity for athletes to begin qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The competition also features the climax to the "Raise the Bar campaign," which has seen powerlifters and team officials take part in education seminars as part of efforts to reduce doping in the sport.

More information, including a full competition schedule and live results can be found at the Dubai 2014 website: http://www.paralympic.org/dubai-2014.

Athletes:

ALG Hamza Bouali

ARG Lucas Ezequiel Gareca

BRA Mateus de Assis Silva

CHN Dong Qi

COL Fabio Torres

EGY Mohamed Eldib

GAM Modou Gamo

GBR Chris Rattenbury

GEO Iago Gorgodze

GRE Anastasios Baos

INA Hero Paryono

IRQ Thaer Al-Ali

MAS Yee Khie Jong

NGR Abdulazeez Ibrahim

POL Ryszard Rogala

POL Mateusz Woroszyl

RUS Denis Karasev

SUI Claudio Biderbost

UAE Ibrahim Almusaabi

UAE Abdulla Ismail Bin Farhan

UAE Mohammed Khamis Khalaf

UKR Anton Kriukov