Vietnam gets on medals board at Asian weightlifting tournament

By Vinh San April 19, 2021 | 08:08 pm PT

Hoang Thi Duyen competes at SEA Games 30 in 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong.

Hoang Thi Duyen won Vietnam's only medal, a bronze, at the ongoing Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Tuesday.

In the women’s 59 kg category, she snatched 100 kg to beat her previous best of 97 kg she lifted at the World Weightlifting Championships last October.

In clean and jerk, she lifted 116 kg but failed at 121 kg.

Taiwan's Kuo Hsing-chun won the gold medal after breaking her own record in the snatch with 110 kg lifting 137 kg in the clean and jerk.

China's Luo Xiaomin won the silver medal.

The other members of the Vietnamese team, Vuong Thi Huyen and Thach Kim Tuan, failed to win a medal.

Duyen, 23, Southeast Asia's top weightlifter in the 59 kg, had only targeted a top-five finish.

The Asian Weightlifting Championships, from April 16 to 25, is one of the qualification events for next year's Olympics in Japan, meaning there is a good chance she will qualify.

The International Weightlifting Federation is set to announce the list of qualifiers after the event.