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Ismailia, Day 5: Golds for Venezuela and Armenia – and 17-year-old wins medal after 16kg weight gain

Angel Rodriguez was an impressive winner for Venezuela and Anna Amroyan from Armenia was in tears after a dramatic victory with the last lift of the day at the IWF World Junior Championships in Ismailia, Egypt. It was the first day without a winner from Asia. The top three in the women’s 77kg had all won medals at the senior European Championships in Georgia 12 days ago, where Amroyan set a junior continental record in clean and jerk after bombing out in snatch. The leading two in Georgia, Janette Ylisoini from Finland and 17-year-old Varvara Kuzminova from Russia, finished second and third here. Anna Amroyan (ARM) This time Amroyan made all six attempts to finish 106-134-240. She won with her final lift, then fell flat on her back in tears. There were more tears on the podium as her anthem was played. Ylisoini made only one snatch but it was enough for gold. She missed her final clean and jerk and finished 108-131-239. Kuzminova made 107-130-237 and with the Georgian snatch silver medallist Nana Khorava next on 108-126-234, the top four were all European. Seine Stowers, the Samoan who was within 3kg of the junior world record when she won the Oceania title on 254kg last month, had the highest entry total but did not make it to Egypt. Anna Ylisoini (FIN) Ylisoini was competing internationally for the 22nd time in less than five years. She likes to keep busy but said, “I had only five days at home after Georgia before I flew to Egypt. I need a break so I will take some rest now and my next competition will be the World Championships in China (in October and November).” The Women's 77kg podium Rodriguez, narrowly beaten last year, made five good lifts for 168-197-365 at 88kg. Asian athletes still had cause to celebrate when Kazakhstan’s two men in the session both won medals. One of them, 17-year-old Alikhan Askerbay, increased his body weight by 23.43 per cent in 190 days – and said he will put on more weight yet. Angel Rodriguez (VEN) At last year ‘s World Juniors Rodriguez weighed in light in the 89kg category and gave a 4kg body weight advantage to the Georgian winner Goga Jajvani. He was beaten by one kilogram. Venezuela had high hopes of Rodriguez, who prepared well and weighed in within a few grams of the limit this time. He dominated from the start and led by 7kg at halfway. After missing his final attempt on 200kg he was 9kg clear of Yerasyl Saulebekov, who needed to equal the world record in clean and jerk to overtake him. He could not do it. “I tried very hard and did what I could but I’m not satisfied with silver,” Saulebekov said. “I was here for gold.” Yerasyl Saulebekov (KAZ) Askerbay weighed 70.73kg and lifted in the 71kg category at the Asian Youth Games in  October 2025, his last international competition before today. In Ismailia 190 days later he was 87.3kg, up by 16.57kg. “I ate a lot of horse meat, I ate a lot of everything,” he said of his remarkable weight gain. “I’m going to get even heavier because the plan is for me to go up and Yerasyl to go down to 85.” The Men's 88kg podium Askerbay, who holds all three youth world records at 71kg, took silver in snatch, bronze in clean and jerk and finished third on total. He made all six lifts for 161-194-355. Saulebekov, a Youth world champion at 67kg and 73kg, improved his best total by 12kg on 157-199-356. Fourth-placed Moustafa Bakry from Egypt won snatch bronze on 158kg. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Ismailia, Day 4: Photo Gallery

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Ismailia, Day 4: World records on a big day for Egypt and China – and B Group medals for Albania

Host nation Egypt had its first champion of the week, China won again and athletes from both nations claimed world records at the IWF World Junior Championships in Ismailia. Albania was on the podium from the B Group in a high-quality women’s 69kg session in which Lin Jingwei set world records in clean and jerk and total. Lin was one of four lifters who set continental junior records. Hussein Metwally Abdelrahman (EGY) Egypt had two heroes in the men’s 79kg. Hussein Metwally Abdelrahman was a world champion for the third straight year, having won twice as a Youth at 67kg and 73kg. Up in weight and well prepared, he put 35kg on his previous best international total in making 153-188-341. Ali Abdelradi, third in snatch and fifth on total, earned huge cheers when he made 182kg on his second clean and jerk to complete a sweep of youth world records. Abdelradi, 17, then cleaned 187kg but could not complete the lift and finished 151-182-333, which was 6kg higher than the world standard. His only previous international competition was the Qatar Cup in December, a non-IWF event this time. Narek Mkrtchyan (ARM) Narek Mkrtchyan from Armenia was second on 150-186-336 and Didarbek Jumabayev from Turkmenistan third on 148-187-335. Bobumirzo Yokubov from Uzbekistan took snatch silver on 152kg before dropping to sixth overall. Lin became China’s sixth winner when she made all six lifts for 107-138-245. Like last year, when she was Youth world champion at 71kg, she set two world records with her final attempt. “I had never even tried 138 before,” said Lin, who started weightlifting at primary school aged eight. “My performance was better than I expected. My next ambition is to perform well in my first senior World Championships (in China) later this year.” Lin Jingwei (CHN) Claudia Rengifo from Venezuela - a Youth world champion in 2024 - won snatch gold in making an impressive 108-131-239 in second place.  She took the Pan American junior record in clean and jerk and would have had the record on total, too, if she had not failed with her final attempt on 134kg. Rengifo competed 12 times in less than three years after her international debut in 2022, but today she was on the platform for the first time in more than a year. She made her best total by 10kg, and was down 2kg in weight category. There was another encouraging performance from the bronze medallist Enkileda Carja from Albania, who lifted in the B Group. She set a European junior record on total in making 104-125-229, a 3kg improvement on her effort at the senior European Championships last month, when she also opted for the B Group. “I was in the B Group because a few weeks ago I wasn’t in the best emotional shape, and I knew I would have a better chance to control my emotions in the competition if I was in B,” said Carja, who like the other two medallists on total is 18. The women's 69kg podium “I’m very happy with my achievements, which are the result of a lot of hard training. I train in Tirana and I am in my third year of high school, plus I have a part-time job. Every training session is exciting for me. “In the rest of this year I want to compete at the European Juniors, the Mediterranean Games and then the senior World Championships for the first time.” Carja, Youth world champion at 64kg last year, won bronze in clean and jerk and total. She would have had a sweep of third-place finishes but for a remarkable effort by Tugba Nur Koz from Turkiye. Koz, 19, made a 10kg jump to 105kg for her third snatch attempt after failing at 100kg. She had to fight hard to keep control of the bar but did it for a junior European record and finished fourth on total on 224kg.  By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Ismailia, Day 3: Photo Gallery

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Ismailia, Day 3: ‘I did it for dad’ – from grief to glory for Philippines’ triple world champion Delos Santos

Albert Delos Santos from the Philippines and Thanaporn Saetia from Thailand both won world titles for a third time and China lost its 100 per cent record on a memorable day at the IWF World Junior Championships in Ismailia, Egypt. Delos Santos ran off the platform to hug his mother, Diwa, at the end of the 71kg session. When she produced a photo of her late husband, Delos Santos kissed it and said, “I did it for him! I did it for him!” Albert Delos Santos (PHI) Two months ago Delos Santos lost his father to liver cancer. His grief was so profound he injured himself, and was physically and mentally drained during his preparations for a shot at his third straight world title. “I deviated from my coach’s percentages in training and wanted to do every lift for my dad. It was my way of trying to get over the pain,” he said. “I wore myself out, and two Saturdays ago I injured by back. “I couldn’t even walk for a couple of days. I felt so bad, I was in a deep void. I had only a week to train for this and I was trembling out there, but my dad was with me all the way. This was for him.” There was plenty of time for Delos Santos to fret before his winning lift. After his final snatch of 139kg there were the last few snatches and 27 clean and jerk attempts to come, plus the 10-minute interval, before he was back on the platform. Everybody else had finished. Yash Khandagale (IND) Delos Santos is a clean and jerk specialist who is used to making up ground after the break. He came out to make 175kg to secure the title, then jumped 12kg to better his own clean and jerk junior world record. He even had the bar loaded at 190kg to try for the world record on total, but he failed and finished 17kg clear on 139-187-326. Delos Santos, who will be 20 in August, was Youth champion in 2023 at 61kg and a Junior winner last year at 67kg. After today, his big targets for the year are the Asian Games and the senior World Championships in Japan and China. His coach is Julius Naranjo, husband of the Olympic gold medallist Hidilyn Diaz. His late father, Alvin, and Diwa were both weightlifters and Diwa, who worked alongside Naranjo today, is a national coach. If it was a long delay for Delos Santos between lifts, there was an even longer wait for confirmation of his medals for Yash Khandagale from India. He posted 140-169-309 from the B Group and sat watching the A session in the auditorium. “Yes it was a long wait but very exciting - I’m really happy with that,” he said. Khandagale took silver in snatch, bronze in clean and jerk and silver on total. Jimmy Lopez from Ecuador finished third on total despite being eighth in snatch and fourth in clean and jerk. He made 134-167-301. The men's 71kg podium It was a crowded podium. Narek Grigoryan from Armenia won snatch gold on 144kg before bombing out, fifth-placed Revaz Mildiani from Georgia took snatch bronze on 140-160-300 and Hovhannes Hovhannisyan from Armenia, fourth on total, won silver in clean and jerk on 130-171-301. Thanaporn Saetia (THA) Saetia just failed with a snatch world record attempt when she won the 63kg on 100-125-225, taking a sweep of golds. Like Delos Santos, she won Youth and Junior titles in 2023 and last year, at 64kg then 59kg. Saetia made five from six while Jiang Yanfang from China made four. Jiang, second in last year’s World Juniors at 64kg behind team-mate Yang Liuye, was second again after she missed twice in snatch and finished 95-124-219. The women's 63kg podium Diana Bellorin from Venezuela was third on 92-115-207. Ziyoda Khudoykulova from Uzbekistan took snatch bronze on 93kg and Lidett Miramontes from Venezuela was third in clean and jerk on 115kg. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Ismailia, Day 2: Photo Gallery

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