Amalia Perez makes winning debut at Online World Cup Series

Paralympic champion takes women's title in second edition with Jordan’s Abdelkareem Khattab finishing first in the men's competition 03 Jun 2020
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A woman stretching her arms before competing in a powerlifting bench press
Mexico's Amalia Perez is one of the world's top powerlifters taking part in the Online World Cup Series
ⒸHiroki Nishioka for World Para Powerlifting
By World Para Powerlifting

Three-time Paralympic champion Amalia Perez has added one more title to her already impressive collection with a victory in the second edition of the Online World Cup Series, presented by BIGSER.

While Perez stole the show in the women’s category on her debut in the tournament, Jordan’s Abdelkareem Khattab clinched the title in the men’s category.

A total of 40 athletes from 20 countries took part in the second edition of the Series, a 62 per cent rise compared to the inaugural event in May.

The Series was launched by World Para Powerlifting in May following the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Para powerlifters compete from home or their local gym based on the rules established by health authorities in their countries.

They submit up to three videos of their lifts to World Para Powerlifting through an online platform. Officials use the same platform to judge the performances.

Powerlifters score points based on a statistical coefficient that equalises and compares athletes’ performances between different body weights (AH score).

Competing from home in Mexico City, Perez scored 126.10 points to finish ahead of Russia’s Vera Muratova (117.23), the winner of the first edition. Brazil’s Mariana D’Andrea claimed third spot (115.23).

A mere 0.52 points separated Khattab (195.56) from second-placed Fabio Torres of Colombia (195.04), also the winner of the men’s opening Series. Another Colombian, Jainer Cantillo stood third (186.16).

After two editions, Muratova and Torres top the women and men’s rankings, respectively.

Team Green comeback

Following every Online World Cup, World Para Powerlifting organised a team event in which four captains select four athletes and try to predict their results.

The format is similar to a fantasy league and for the first time, the challenge was also open to the general public, with Para powerlifting fans invited to create their own team.

Captained by Brazil’s Pedro Meloni, Team Green recovered from a last place in the opening series to win the second edition scoring 572.84 points.

Meloni picked Khattab, Muratova, D’Andrea and Peru’s Niel Garcia Trelles. Alessandro Boraschi’s once again finished in second place (569.62), followed by Amalia Perez’s Team Blue (543.68) and Sherif Osman’s Team Red (400.30).

Karmen Zuluaga from Colombia was the winner among the fans’ fantasy league. She scored 624.53 points selecting her compatriots Torres and Cantillo together with Muratova and Perez.

Brazil’s Debora Bretas took the second place with 622.62 and Mexico’s Oscar Carrillo was third with 614.01.

The Online World Cup Series continues in June with the third edition from 8-21.