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Albania’s first gold medal in any Olympic sport at a world championships

Albania’s Daniel Godelli won Europe’s first gold medals of the 2014 IWF World Championships in an exciting tussle for the men’s 77kg title. He failed with a world record attempt of 211kg in the clean-and-jerk, but Godelli’s total of 369kg made him Albania’s first ever gold medallist at the World Championships. It was also the first time an Albanian won a world championship title in any sport on the Olympic programme. Albania's previous best had been the silver medal by Ilirian Suli in the men's 85kg snatch in 2002. There was also a snatch bronze for Romela Begaj in 2011, in the women’s 58kg. She competes today (Thur) in the 63kg. Despite the scale of the achievement Godelli declined to attend the post-event press conference, as his team said they were unable to provide an interpreter. PRK also stayed away despite Kwan Song Kim having won gold in the clean-and-jerk, leaving only Guoshun Zhong (snatch silver, clean-and-jerk bronze, overall silver) to answer questions. Zhong, who was a junior world champion at 69kg in 2006, was selected because his more illustrious teammate and multiple champion, Liu Xiaojun, was rested after the Asian Games. China prepared two teams, one for those Games in Incheon, South Korea in September, and for these Championships in Kazakhstan. “I have been in good form over the past year or so, but I can’t beat Liu,” said Zhong, who said he was capable, in training, of 12-13kg more than his 367kg total here. He failed with two of his clean-and-jerk attempts but so did many others. There were 17 failures and only 16 good lifts in the clean-and-jerk, which Kim won with 200kg. Zhong praised Godelli as a formidable lifter, but said he believed the attempt at 211kg for the world record was too much: he was right. Godelli, 22, a Junior World champion in 2011, was also Albania’s first gold medallist in the European Championships. He won the clean-and-jerk gold in front of his home crowd in Tirana in 2013. This year he was beaten for the European title by his fellow countryman Erkand Qerimaj, who made only two good snatch lifts and did not register a total here. Kim’s gold in the clean-and-jerk takes PRK level with China on seven golds here in Almaty, with four days to go. By Brian

Women’s 58kg crowned Deng Mengrong

China’s Mengrong Deng missed a gold medal in both the snatch and the clean-and-jerk in the women’s 58kg, but won the coveted overall title at the IWF Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It was only the second time, in the existing weight categories, that an athlete took the overall title without winning one of the other golds. The recent Asian Games champion, Jong Hwa Ri of PRK, was beaten into second place. Two Thai lifters won three medals between them: a gold, a silver and a bronze. Had they been able to combine their best efforts - a gold with 106kg in the snatch for teenager Sukanya Srisurat, and a clean-and-jerk silver on 131kg for Rattikan Gulnoi - they would have won the overall title. “We compete against each other a lot, and our totals are usually about the same,” said Gulnoi. “I think she’s Thailand’s best lifter and she thinks it’s me. I hope we can both improve.” Srisurat, 19, was surprised to take the snatch gold. Deng was successful with all her three lifts and made them look easy. But 105kg was not enough, for Srisurat made her third attempt at 106kg. Ri looked in poor form, failing twice on 103kg, and another of the favourites also struggled. Hsing-Chun Kuo, of Taipei, who won last year’s clean-and-jerk and overall golds, made only two good lifts and was 8kg or more behind the medallists. Ri improved in the clean-and-jerk, winning gold with 133kg, but she never looked likely to catch the impressive Deng, whose winning total was 235kg. Deng was asked what she was looking forward to now that she had overcome her injury to take the title. “Food,” she said. “Especially dessert.” Her favourite interests outside weightlifting, she said, were “food and shopping”. There was a fifth medallist. When Ri failed with her two attempts at 103kg in the snatch, the 19-year-old Colombian Yenny Alvarez Caicedo was left in third place on 100kg. She had great encouragement from her teammates in the crowd and gave the best smile of the night when her medal was

Who will rise in absence of big star Lu Xiaojun?

Two-times reigning champion Lu Xiaojun (CHN) will not compete in this year's men's 77kg event. He has won the men's 77kg a record three times in 2009, 2011 and 2013 at the World Championships. In addition he took the silver medal in 2010 behind Armenia's Tigran Martirosyan. At last year's World Championships he broke the world record in the Snatch (176 kilogrammes) and in the Total (380 kilogrammes), which were previously set by him at the 2012 Olympic Games. Xiaojun also holds the record for most gold (8) and most total medals (12) in this event. Daniel Godelli and Erkand Qerimaj hope to become the first Albanian athletes to win a medal at the men's 77kg. Qerimaj won the gold at the 2013 European Championships, beating compatriot Godelli based on being 20 grams lighter in personal weight, while both lifted a total of 349 kilogrammes. No Albanian lifter (both genders) has ever won a gold medal at the World Championships. Romela Begaj took bronze at the women's 58kg in 2011 and Ilirian Suli took silver at the men's 85kg in 2002. Kim Kwang Song (PRK) finished second at the 2013 World Championships and is poised to win his first gold medal in the competition. He finished on huge distance from gold medallist Lu Xiaojun: 21 kilogrammes. Before 2013, the biggest difference between gold and silver at the World Championships at the men's 77kg was eight kilogrammes (2005, 2009). The only other athlete competing in this year's event to have previously won a medal at the World Championships is Armenian Ara Khachatryan. He won gold at the men's 85kg Snatch in 2010 and two bronze at the men's 77kg Snatch and Total in 2006. Khachatryan could become the third Armenian to win a gold medal in the men's 77kg, after Tigran Martirosyan (Snatch and Total 2010) and Khachatur Kyapanaktsyan (Snatch

World Records day – 2 needed for the Gold

There were four world records, and brilliant performances by Kazakh and Chinese athletes on an exciting third day of the IWF World Championships in Almaty. The crowd at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace in Almaty roared and cheered as their home favourite, Zulfiya Chinshanlo, won two gold medals and set two world records for Kazakhstan in the women’s 53kg. In a remarkable performance Chinshanlo won by 14kg from Shu-Ching Hsu, from Taipei, who had beaten her at the Asian Games only six weeks ago. There were two more world records in the men’s 69kg. Hui Liao of China already held the clean-and-jerk and Total best marks. He added the snatch to his collection with a lift of 166kg, beating a record that had stood since the Sydney Olympics more than 14 years ago, set by Bulgaria’s Georgi Markov. Liao then made another sensational lift in the clean-and-jerk to better his own world best in the total, finishing on 359kg. He had missed the Asian Games to prepare for these championships and it paid off. This was his third clean sweep at the World Championships: the others were in 2009 and 2013. Chinshanlo, 21, said, “I would like to thank the crowd, they made a big difference for me with their support. She also thanked her husband Ly Yongqing, who was in the audience. “He has supported me since we were childhood friends, always by my side, a good guy.” In the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea in September, Hsu had set a world record total of 233kg. Here, she felt unwell during the warm-up and failed with three of her six lifts, registering 218kg. Chinshanlo had already won the clean-and-jerk and overall gold medals with two lifts to spare – and she broke the world record with both of them. First, she lifted 133kg to better her own world best by 1kg, then she did it again to take it to 134kg. Asked afterwards if she might have lifted 136, which would also have given her a world-record total, she said, “Not for now. That was hard enough!” She believes she can do it in future, though. Chinshanlo started feeling abdominal pain about an hour after final lift and was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure. The defending world champion Yayun Li, from China, who won all three golds in Poland last year, won all three bronzes this time. “I was pleased with my performance,” she said. “I know how strong Zulfiya is.” In the men’s event Liao failed with his second snatch attempt, unable to keep his right arm still. But he was so confident he went up 6kg to the world-record mark and made it. His nearest challenger, 12kg behind, was the Russian Oleg Chin, who dropped away in the clean-and-jerk. Youssef Mahmoud, a 24-year-old Egyptian whose father had been a national champion, took bronze in the snatch and silver in the clean-and-jerk and overall, ahead of PRK’s Chang Il Kwon. After making a successful third lift to move ahead of Kwon, Mahmoud fell to the floor in agony. He was suffering from severe muscle spasms in both legs but after treatment he was able to attend the medal ceremony. The athletes had endured days of strict dieting and hard work to bring down their weight and Liao said he was ready to celebrate with a good meal. “For five days I have barely eaten,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to some good Asian

TODAY China’s lifters pulling for clean sweeps in both events

Both Li Yajun (CHN, Women’s 53kg) and Liao Hui (CHN, Men's 69kg) won all three gold medals at last year's World Championships in Wroclaw. Here in Almaty they are looking to continue their gold medal haul. Both Total gold medals in men’s events thus far in Almaty have been won by participants representing DPR Korea. The last time China failed to win Total in the three lightest categories was in 2001, when Halil Mutlu (TUR), Genadi Oleshchouk (BLR) and Galabin Boevski (BUL) proved too strong. China can win the first six women’s gold medals at a single World Championship for the fourth time, after doing so in 1998, 2006 and 2013. The record is winning the first seven, in 1998 and 2006. Women’s 53kg Li could become the first woman to successfully defend all three gold medals in this event. Kazakhstan are still looking for their first medal in this tournament. Clean & Jerk world record holder Zulfiya Chinshanlo (KAZ) is their hope in this women’s event. Chinshanlo can become the first woman to win a gold medal in the 53kg at three different world championships. Looking for a strong appearance is also Hsu Shu-Ching (TPE), who set the Total world record at 233 kilogrammes during the Asian Games in Incheon (KOR) in September. Men’s 69kg Liao completed the hat-trick in 2009 and 2013. Last year he won by a clear margin of 18 kilogrammes to Oleg Chen (RUS). Liao's six combined gold medals are one short of the World Championships record in Men’s 69kg. He could equal/surpass Zhang Guozheng (CHN, 7 in 2002-2007) by winning one or more golds in this event. DPR Korea have two participants who aim for their nation’s first gold medal in Total and their second overall in Men’s 69kg, after Kim Kum Sok’s (PRK) gold in Clean & Jerk in

First Chinese Gold and second for PRK

There was drama behind the scenes in the first women’s medal event, and a second gold medal for PRK on an entertaining second day of the IWF World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Tan Yayun, from China, made it six out of six in the World Championships with a clean sweep in the women’s 48kg – a repeat of her feat in Poland last year. Tan, who will be 22 later this month, lifted 109kg with her final attempt in the clean-and-jerk. That gave her a 194kg total, 5kg ahead of a tearful Sibel Ozkan Konak (Turkey) and Panida Khamsri (Thailand), who finished second and third overall. It was heartbreaking for Ozkan Konak, 26, who now has seven silver medals and no golds in the Olympic Games, IWF World Championships, European Championships and Mediterranean Games. She was only 1kg behind after the snatch and was confident of a good total, as she has clean-and-jerked 115kg in training. But she made only 105kg because of an injury. In the break between the snatch and the clean-and-jerk, Ozkan Konak was sitting and stretching when suddenly she had muscle spasms in her quadriceps, first in her right leg, then the left. She had ice treatment but the spasms continued. “I was desperate. I thought I would have to withdraw,” she said. Ozkan Konak was unable to do any warm-ups and went straight from her 84kg snatch to lifting 103kg in the clean-and-jerk. She improved that by 2kg but failed with her last lift, and was in tears after the medal ceremony. There was home disappointment when Kazakhstan’s Margarita Yelisseyeva failed with all three snatch attempts and withdrew. In the men’s 62kg three lifters failed to register a total. The easy winner was Kim Un Guk, who had won overall gold in the 2010 World Championships, and silver in 2011 and 2013 – as well as the Olympic title in 2012. This was the first time he won all three golds at the IWF World Championships. Kim made 142kg in the snatch, winning by 1kg from the overall runner-up Eko Irawan from Indonesia, and the brilliant young Colombian Luis Javier Mosquera Lozano. The 19-year old won bronze in the snatch and was fourth overall. He has set himself a daunting programme next year of competing in the Youth World Championships in Lima, Peru, the Pan-American Games in Toronto, and the IWF World Championships in Houston, Texas. China’s Ding Jianjun was beaten into third place by Irawan, so for the first time since 1998 China was not placed in the top two overall. Ding said, “PRK is the strongest rival to China. They have many perfect lifters. There was an era when China dominated but now they are the best. The only way we can respond is by training, training and more