Mu Shuangshuang of China claimed the gold medal of women's over
75kg category on Thursday, sealing Chinese female lifters' gold
sweep at the Asian championships.
Mu, gold medallist in Doha Asiad, snatched 132kg and lifted
173kg in clean and jerk, winning the title with a total of
305kg.
Annipa Moontar of Thailand finished second with a total of
265kg, and Geeta Rnai of India took the bronze medal at 239kg in
total.
"I did not strain myself in the competition today because my leg
still hurts a bit," the 23-year-old strongwoman said.
Mu's arch rival Jang Mi-ran from South Korea did not take part
in the championships, which made the game much easier for Mu.
"I do not care at all whether Jang is here or not, since I have
already set up specific strategy against her. Let's wait for the
world championships and see the result," Mu said with full
confidence.
The Chinese women weightlifting team swept 20 out of the
totaling 21 gold medals at the Asian Championships. Moreover, the
Chinese strongwomen smashed three world records of clean and
jerk.
"This is a satisfactory result that we have expected," said Ma
Wenhui, the chief coach of the Chinese women's team. "They have all
passed the examination of the winter training camp and now we may
move on to the next stage of preparation for the Olympics."
The Chinese weightlifting team has taken five-month winter
training from November to April, and coaches had aimed at setting
up new world records before coming to Tai'an for the Asian
Championships.
"It is a rewarding training camp, though the girls have
experienced a tough time," said Li Shunzhu, a coach of the Chinese
women's team.
However, it is more than coincidence that all three world
records were shattered in clean and jerk competitions, since
China's women lifters have long been stronger in jerk than
snatch.
"We have paid more attention to snatch, and we will definitely
do more in the summer training camp," Ma said.
"The athletes are now in good shape, especially some new
champions like Chen Xiexia of 48kg class and Qiu Hongmei of 58kg
category, and I think they are on the rising path to get even
better results," Ma concluded.
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(Xinhua News Agency?April 27, 2007)
