Tbilisi 2021: Day eight preview

The penultimate day of the Tbilisi 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships will see the last glimpse of the men's action in the Georgian capital.

Sunday (5 December) is reserved for the heavyweights in the men's up to 107kg and over 107kg categories. The action in the Hualing Ballroom starts at 09:30 (local time).

Morning session

First up will be the men's up to 107kg category with three groups on the schedule. Mongolia's Sodnompiljee Enkhbayar is the reigning Paralympic and world champion coming to Tbilisi as the favourite to win the gold medal.

At the last edition of the World Championships in 2019 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, Enkhbayar broke the world record that still stands at the 247kg-mark.

He is also the reigning Asian Para Games champion and a bronze medallist from the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

At the last edition of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo three months ago Enkhbayar won Mongolia's first Para powerlifting gold in the Games history breaking the Paralympic record in the second attempt lifting 245kg.

Malaysia's Yee Khie Jong will try to challenge Enkhbayar for the gold medal as the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist. Even though he started his international career in 2009, Jong did not have much success until the Paralympic Games in Japan.

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Saman Razi of Iran has a similar story to Jongs. His biggest accolade before Tokyo came in Kitakyushu, Japan at the Asia-Oceania Open Championships, where Razi climbed the third step of the podium.

Mexican Jose De Jesus Castillo is another Para powerlifter who could challenge Enkhbayar. He was a world champion at the home Mexico City 2017 Worlds and a gold medallist at the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games.

Afternoon session

Athletes in the men's over 107kg category will take on the centre stage from 13:20 (local time). Four groups of eight Para powerlifters will compete for the gold medal.

Iran's legend Siamand Rahman was the last world champion at Nur-Sultan 2019.

The Iranian passed away with a cardiac arrest in March 2020. Rahman is still the world record holder in the men’s over 107kg with a lift of 310kg that gave him Paralympic gold at Rio 2016.

Jordan's Jamil Elshebli, the reigning Paralympic champion from Tokyo, is the main favourite to become Rahman's successor.

The first place at the Tokyo 2020 was Elshebli's third international medal after winning two bronze's at the Rio 2016 Paralympics and Mexico City 2017 Worlds.

His biggest rival, Iran's Mansour Pourmirzaei, is not coming to Tbilisi which opens the door for Ershebli to win his second major title in a row.

Pourmirzaei is a three-time World Championships silver medallist and a silver medal winner from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

African champion and a silver medallist from the Rio 2016 Paralympics Amr Mosaad from Egypt will also try to challenge for a medal together with London 2012 medallists Faris Al Ageeli from Iraq and Chun Keun-bae of South Korea.

Home crowd favourite Akaki Jintcharadze is also hoping to be in the mix for the podium as the fourth-place finisher from Tokyo 2020. Although, he switched categories after Tokyo and went up to the over 107 kg category.

The Tbilisi 2021 World Championships is live streamed on the World Para Powerlifting website and the World Para Powerlifting Facebook page.

Complete schedule and results are available at the Tbilisi 2021 microsite.