Ismailia, Day 6: Photo Gallery
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Ismailia, Day 6: Venezuela strikes gold again and Turkmenistan’s champion reveals the secret of success – get off your phone
Venezuela had another hugely impressive winner at the IWF World Junior Championships in Ismailia, Egypt when Mauricio Loaiza made all six attempts to take the 94kg title in his first competition outside Latin America. Loaiza was Venezuela’s second champion in successive days after Angel Rodriguez won at 88kg on Wednesday. Anamjan Rustamova from Turkmenistan came out on top in the closest finish yet at these Championships to win the women’s 86kg. After singing her anthem at the medal ceremony, Rustamova, who will be 20 on Friday, revealed the key to her success. Anamjan Rustamova (TKM) “I gave up my mobile phone for two months at training camp to focus only on my preparations,” she said. “It was my decision, not the coach’s. “I didn’t want any distractions, I just wanted to work hard. Of course there were times when I wanted to call my parents so I had to ask my coach if I could borrow his phone.” The scoreboard showed the top three on 253-252-251 with one attempt each to come. Emma Poghosyan from Armenia was in the lead, Xu Linyue from China was second and Rustamova third. Xu went first and led with a six-from-six 110-146-256. Rustamova had failed at 145kg but needed 147kg to overtake Xu. She did it, finishing 12kg better than her previous highest total on 110-147-257. The Women's 86kg podium Poghosyan, 4kg behind, was already well up on her best total and could not make the 149kg she needed. She made 109-144-253 in third place. For the second straight year Rustamova was a junior world champion. “We are still here tomorrow and I will be celebrating my birthday in Egypt,” she said. “There will be cake, of course.” Remarkably for someone who is still a teenager - at least for a day - Rustamova was competing in her eighth World Championships, one in the Youths, five in the Juniors and two in the seniors. She will go to the Asian Games and a third senior World Championships before the year is out. “Maybe I should give up my phone again next time,” she said. Rustamova was “never nervous, always confident” despite being 4kg behind the snatch gold medallist Rahma Ahmed at halfway and needing that final lift to overtake Xu. Ahmed, from Egypt, bombed out in clean and jerk, failing three times on 131kg. Mauricio Loaiza (VEN) Marian Murgvliani from Georgia took snatch silver on 111kg and, like her team-mate Nana Khorava the day before, finished fourth on total. Georgia fared better in the men’s 94kg when Goga Jajvani rescued a medal with his last lift. He won snatch gold but missed twice at 198kg and was in danger of a bombout when he made 200kg to finish 167-200-367 for second place. Goga Jajvani (GEO) Jajvani won the 89kg title last year, when he finished one kilogram ahead of yesterday’s winner Rodriguez. Another Venezuelan got the better of him this time. Loaiza, who last competed 10 months ago, prepared well and put 28kg on his best total, making 166-207-373. Just like Rodriguez, he looked very impressive throughout. There was still a chance that Loaiza could be beaten. Hamidreza Zarei from Iran, who was 5kg behind at halfway and 7kg behind with one attempt left, cleaned 212kg and got the bar above his head but he could not complete the lift. Zarei was third on 162-204-366. Hamidreza Zarei (IRI) Valerik Movsisyan from Armenia took snatch bronze on 164kg before bombing out in clean and jerk. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio
Ismailia, Day 5: Photo Gallery
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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
