Pyeongtaek 2022: Chinese women seal championships triumph with golden roar
Chinese female athletes wrap up 2022 Asian Oceania Open Championships with dominant performance while Iran shines in men's individual events 20 Jun 2022The Chinese women swept all of the titles in Pyeongtaek during the 2022 Asian Oceania Open Championships.
Cui Jianjin continued China’s winning ways on Day 4 as she comfortably bested the field in the up to 61kg class. Her best lift of 132kg set a new Asian record.
Not to be outdone, fellow Chinese powerlifter Tan Yujiao took the crown for her career's third Asian title in women’s up to 67kg.
And China's victories did not end there.
After storming on the stage with a fiery and vocal warmup, Han Miaoyu captured gold in the women's up to 79kg. The podium for the total score in the same class brought the surprise of the week. Indonesia's Siti Mahmudah completed three successful lifts to become the only non-Chinese female athlete to leave Pyeongtaek with gold.
Elsewhere, reigning world champion Xu Lili joyfully completed the sweep for the Chinese women. Xu won another Asian title with her lift of 133kg in the up to 73kg class.
With a small field and powerhouse China not competing, Republic of Korea defended their home turf and took gold in the women’s team event. Thailand came away with silver while Australia took bronze.
Medals, records and drama
The men’s individual champions were more multinational.
Iranian athlete Aliakbar Gharibshahi lifted 253kg to break his own world record and bring home the gold. Gharibshahi bested his previous mark of 251kg in the men's up to 72kg class. Uzbekistan's Nuriddin Davlatov took home the gold for the combined score in the same weight class.
Gharibshahi’s countryman Ahmad Aminzadeh secured the best and total score golds in the heavyweight over 107kg class with his dramatic final lift. His winning lift came in at a whopping 256kg.
Not all of the Chinese golds were won by female athletes. Two-time world champion Gu Xiaofei lifted 231kg on his way to winning both the best and total titles in the men's up to 80kg.
The individual events wrapped up with Abdelkareem Mohmmad Khattab of Jordan winning the men’s up to 88kg. Khattab fell short in his attempt to break his own world record of 250kg, but his second lift of 241kg was enough to secure the title for Jordan.
Team triumphs
Another small Middle East nation found glory as the UAE took gold in the men’s team event. Thailand came in second while the men of host nation Republic of Korea took bronze.
The mixed team event concluded the Asian Oceania Open Championships with Uzbekistan entering two teams and taking the top spots on the podium. Thailand rounded up the triumvirate with bronze.
The regional Para powerlifting schedule continues on 8-11 July with the 2022 Parapan American Open Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.