Kazakhstan’s Igor Son in action in the men’s 61kg event during the opening day of the Qatar International Cup at the Radisson Blu Hotel yesterday. Pictures: Ebrahim Kutty
Kazakhstan’s World Championship silver medallist Igor Son won his country’s first gold medal at the Qatar International Cup which kicked off in Doha yesterday.
At the Radisson Blu Hotel yesterday, the 21-year-old successfully lifted 278kg (124+154) to win the 61kg category.
Incidentally, Son won the silver medal at the World Championships held in Pattaya in September while competing in a lower weight class (55kg).
Son’s mark in snatch was the second best yesterday as Seyitjan Mirzayev from Turkmenistan topped the snatch with a best of 125kg. Mirzayev raised 145kg in clean and jerk to make a total of 270kg which earned him the overall silver medal.
Ruiu Davide from Italy won the bronze with a total of 270kg (117+153)
Earlier, India’s former world champion Saikhom Mirabai Chanu notched up the all three gold medals in the women’s 49kg category. She lifted a total of 194kg.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, managed to register only one clean lift in both the snatch and clean and jerk categories. She won the snatch on 83kg and topped the clean and jerk with a 111kg lift to complete a clean sweep.
Frenchwoman Michel Anais finished second overall with a total weight of 172kg. She lifted 77kg in snatch, followed by a 95kg lift in her only successful attempt in the clean and jerk.
Turkmenistan’s Yulduz Jamabayeva completed the podium after registering a total of 166kg (69kg in snatch and 97kg in clean and jerk).
In the women’s 55kg weight class, Uzbekistan’s Muattar Nabieva clinched the gold medal with a total lift of 203kg. She managed to lift 89kg in her third attempt in snatch after failing to succeed in two previous attempts. Nabieva won the silver in snatch while Ukrain’s Kamila Konotop topped snatch in their category with a successful 92kg lift. In clean and jerk, the Uzbek star topped the table with 114kg to win the overall gold. Konotop lifted 110kg in clean and jerk as she finished second in both clean and jerk as well as the overall tally to add two silver medals to her account.
Italian Lucrezia Madistris won all three bronze medals by lifting 87kg in snatch and 105kg in clean and jerk to make a total of 192kg.
Today, events will be held under five weight categories, namely men’s 73kg, 81kg (A and B) and women’s 59kg and 64kg.
The athletes competing in the Doha event are seeking all important ranking points as they look to make the cut for next year’s Olympics.
This year’s championship, hosted by the Qatar Weightlifting Federation (QWF) under the auspices of the International Weightlifting Federation, will see over 150 lifters representing 42 countries in action, showing a significant growth from last year’s 117 from 35 nations.
Top international stars are competing in the event in which Qatar’s Fares Ibrahim Hassouna is looking to defend his crown in the 96kg class.
The silver winner at the 2019 World Championships in his weight category, Hassouna will be looking to rewrite record books in the same manner he did a year ago.
The two-time Junior World Champion and a silver medallist at the 2018 Asian Games, the 21-year-old, will begin his quest for back-to-back titles in the home event at 3:00pm on Sunday.
