The 2016 Asian Weightlifting Championships have come to a close. The event — held April 21-30 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan — featured a mix of various nations’ best, along with plenty of other top lifters we probably won’t be seeing in Rio (team size limits and qualification, after all). No World Records fell, but there were still plenty of good lifts.
The full results book is here, and we’ve compiled the totals podium finishers below (in addition to a few other notable performances — check out the men’s 94kg and 105+kg for more).
And in case anyone was wondering, the heaviest successful lift was a 247kg clean & jerk from Iran’s Bahador Moulaei. The Iranian delegation told BarBend Weightlifting Correspondent and attendee Mike Graber that Behdad Salimi — Moulaei’s countryman and the reigning Olympic Champion — is still 50/50 for Rio while recovering from knee surgery.
Women’s 48 kg
Total:
- Yayun Tan (China) — 198kg
- Chun Hwa Ryang (North Korea) — 196kg
- Panida Khamsri (Thailand) — 194kg
Women’s 53 kg
Total:
- Xiaoting Chen (China) — 221kg
- Wanqiong Zhang (China) — 211kg
- Hidilyn Diaz (Philippenes) — 208kg
Women’s 58 kg
Total:
- Hsing-Chun Kuo (Taipei) — 238kg
- Jun Zhou (China) — 233kg
- Ping Li (China) — 230kg
Women’s 63 kg
Total:
- Siripuch Gulnoi (Thailand) — 234kg
- Guiming Chen (China) — 217kg
- Thi Tuyet Mai Nguyen (Vietnam) — 211kg
Women’s 69 kg
Total:
- Wangli Zhang (China) — 245kg
- Wan-Ting Hung (Taipei) — 214kg
- Thi Tham Le (Vietnam) — 210kg
Women’s 75 kg
Total:
- Ankhtsetseg Munkhjantsan (Mongolia) — 244kg
- Yeounhee Kang (South Korea) — 235kg
- Chi-Ling Yao (Taipei) — 233kg
Women’s +75 kg
Total:
- Kuk Hyang Kim (North Korea) — 291kg
- Chitchanok Pulsabsakul (Thailand) — 287kg
- Praeonapa Khenjantuek (Thailand) — 237kg
Men’s 56 kg
Total:
- Cheng Men (China) — 285kg
- Sinphet Kruaithong (Thailand) — 284kg
- Fabin Li (China) — 273kg
Men’s 62 kg
Total:
- Yoichi Itokazu (Japan) — 288kg
- Van Vinh Trinh (Vietnam) — 282 kg
- Mohammad Ridha Ali Ali (Iraq) — 277kg
Men’s 69 kg
Total:
- Izzat Artykov (Kyrgyzstan) — 338kg
- Chengfei Yuan (China) — 335kg
- Yong Gwang Kwon (North Korea) — 322kg
Men’s 77 kg
Total:
- Zhiyong Shi (China) — 348kg
- Chatuphum Chinnawong (Thailand) — 347kg
- Pornchai Lobsi (Thailand) — 346kg
Men’s 85 kg
Total:
- Denis Ulanov (Kazakhstan) — 373kg
- Seyedayoob Mousavijarahi (Iran) — 356kg
- Ying Su (China) — 355kg
Men’s 94 kg
In one of the more interesting performances in international competition memory, Belarus’ Andrei Rybakou — a European athlete — lifted at the Asian Championships. Rybakou was provisionally suspended for meldonium earlier this year, but due to the circumstances of the case involving WADA, the IWF lifted his suspension. However, the two-tie Olympic silver medalist still needed an additional international competition to be Rio eligible, and the IWF let him compete in Tashkent; this resulted in one of the stranger totals in recent memory for an active World Record holder. He normally competes as an 85kg lifter.
Rybakou with a solid 100kg snatch and 120kg clean and jerk
The “you need 2 qualifiers” rule is such a joke. pic.twitter.com/GDK1cw9oUm
— All Things Gym (@allthingsgym) April 29, 2016
Total:
- Vladimir Sedov (Kazakhstan) — 386kg
- Ali Hashemi (Iran) — 374kg
- Hanwoong Park (South Korea) — 368kg
Men’s 105 kg
Total:
- Mohammadrez Barari (Iran) — 401kg
- Ivan Efremov (Uzbekistan) — 394kg
- Sardorbek Dusmurotov (Uzbekistan) — 386kg
Men’s + 105 kg
Total*:
- Shih-Chieh Chen (Taipei) — 432kg
- Hojamuhammet Toychyyev (Turkmenistan) — 427kg
- Bahador Moulaei (Iran) — 427kg
*Lifting as a very light 105+ at 110kg, Ruslan Nurudinov won the 105+ snatch with 191kg and clean & jerked 235kg to total 4th in the superheavyweight class. Look out for him to be a force to potentially challenge Ilya Ilyin at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Video below from All Things Gym.
