Vietnamese lifter K'Duong triumphs at World Youth Weightlifting Championships

K'Duong wins gold medals at IWF World Youth Championships. Photo: IWF

K'Duong set up three world records at the World Youth Weightlifting Championships, which is ongoing in Durres, Albania.

The Vietnamese broke all three of his own youth world records when he finished 24kg clear of his nearest rival in the men’s 55kg category on March 26.

K'Duong, who celebrated his 16th birthday three weeks ago, was the only current world record holder among the men’s entries in Durres.

He has made only 11 attempts in his international weightlifting career and he has already set six world records.

In the snatch event, he missed his first attempt at 107kg because of a press-out, but successfully managed it the second time to secure the first gold. He then went up 7kg to better his world best by 1kg at the Ramazan Njala Sport Complex.

In the clean and jerk, his first attempt of 132kg gave him a sweep of gold. He then jumped 12kg, and just failed with the jerk. However, he came back to make the lift with his final attempt and scored his second record, also 1kg better than the previous one.

In total, his combined weight of 258kg brought him the third gold and third record.

Last July, K'Duong broke the world and continental youth records in his debut at the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan when he lifted 113kg, 143kg and 256kg in the snatch, clean and jerk and total, respectively. He declined his final clean and jerk and finished 8kg clear of his nearest rival.

His teammate A Tieu was second in the snatch at 106kg but dropped away to finish fifth on total. Meetei Tomchou of India was third in the snatch and second in the clean and jerk, took the silver with a total of 103-131-234, and Burak Aykun (TUR) was third in clean and jerk and total with 102-125-227.

In the men's 61kg class, K’Brum brought Vietnam one silver in the snatch with a lift of 113kg and two bronzes in the clean and jerk with a 142kg lift and a total of 255kg.

Perhat Bagtyýarow of Turkmenistan won snatch gold while Albert Delos Santos of the Philippines secured golds in the clean and jerk and total.

The world championship is an annual event organised for the first time in 2009 for athletes from 13-17 years old.

The Durres event is being held from March 25 to April 1 with 20 weight categories for men and women. Vietnam has eight representatives, five men and three women.

VNA