Tbilisi 2021: Day three preview

Four-time Amalia Perez from Mexico is one the highlights of the day three of the World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia on Tuesday (30 November).

There are three sets of medals up for grabs in the Hualing Ballroom, one in the men's competition and two in the women's competition.

Morning session

The men's up to 59kg category will be the first to take the stage in Tbilisi on Tuesday with the first out of three groups kicking off the competition at 10:00 (local time).

China's Qi Yongkai looks like the main favourite to take the gold medal in a star-studded event.

Yongkai is the reigning Paralympic champion from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and the silver medallist from the last edition of the World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

He will be accompanied by the three-time Paralympic and four-time world champion Sherif Osman of Egypt.

The 39-year-old is one of the biggest Para powerlifting stars competing in Tbilisi as the silver medallist from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics in the men’s up to 59kg category.

Tokyo was a big disappointment for Osman, who still has six Paralympic golds in sight. The road to Paris 2024 sets off in Georgia and there is no better way to start the quest than with another World Championships triumph.

El Salvador's Herbert Aceituno will be another threat in Yongkai's quest to the first step of the podium. The 36-year-old athlete is the reigning Parapan American Games champion from Lima in 2019 in the men's up to 65kg category and a bronze medallist from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

He lifted 184kg in his second attempt to take home the first-ever medal for El Salvador in the Paralympic or Olympic Games.

Aceituno won bronze in Tokyo by outperforming Chile's Juan Carlos Garrido by a one kilogram margin.

The 41-year-old from Talca, Chile, is the two-time Parapan American Games champion and a bronze medallist from the Nur-Sultan 2019 Worlds.

Brazil's Bruno Carra is another star performer in the men's up to 59kg category.

Carra won the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games in the men's up to 54kg category and competed in the same category at the Tokyo 2020 Games. It is yet to be seen how the Brazilian will adjust to the new category.

Jean Francois Wikenson and Registre Ywenson will represent Haiti in the men's up to 59kg category becoming the first athletes from the country to compete at the World Para Powerlifting Championships.

Afternoon session

Two female categories await in the afternoon with the women's up to 55kg category starting the programme at 14:50 (local time).

Newly-crowned Paralympic champion and world record holder Mariana Shevchuk is coming to Tbilisi with a clear intention of defending her world title won two years ago in Nur-Sultan.

The Ukrainian already has fond memories of the Georgian capital from May this year when she lifted 133kg to set a new world record in the Tbilisi 2021 World Cup.

Although Shevchuk competed at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics weeks after recovering from meningitis, she put on a fantastic performance to win her inaugural Paralympic gold.

Cuijuan Xiao of China took silver at the most recent Paralympic Games with only one kilogram less than Shevchuk and will be trying to get one over the Ukrainian in Tbilisi.

Turkey's Besra Duman will also look to top the podium after winning bronze at Tokyo 2020 and the Mexico City 2017 World Championships.

Vietnam’s Chau Hoang Tuyet Loan, a silver medallist at the Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games, is another medal contender in Georgia.

Mexico's Amalia Perez will take on the stage in Tbilisi from 18:50 pm in the women's up to 61kg category. With only two groups on the schedule and without her two biggest rivals, Perez is the favourite to gold.

Uzbekistan's Paralympic silver medallist Ruza Kuzieva is not coming to the Georgian capital, while the bronze medal winner from Tokyo and a three-time Paralympic champion Lucy Ejike moved up to the women's up to 67kg.

Even with those two in contention, Perez would still be a medal favourite as a four-time Paralympic gold medallist and a two-time world champion.

Ukraine’s Rayisa Toporkova, a two-time Worlds bronze medallist, will be the biggest threat for Perez in the absence of her main rivals.

The Tbilisi 2021 World Para Powerlifting 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.