Asian Weightlifting Championships:
Nasiri bounces back to win C&J gold in heavyweight class
Iranian weightlifter Alireza Nasiri recovered from a disappointing start to his men’s 110kg campaign at the Asian Weightlifting Championships to grab the clean & jerk gold in Gandhinagar, India, on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Iranian had three failed attempts (187kg, 188kg, 189kg) and missed out on the snatch podium, with China’s Liu Huanhua – a 102kg gold medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympics – claiming top prize in the category thanks to a 190kg lift. Chinese Taipei’s Chen Po-jen (189kg) and Turkmenistan’s Davranbek Hasanbayev (188kg) finished in the following spots.
Nasiri, however, delivered a much-improved performance in the clean & jerk, starting with a 221kg lift before registering 231kg with his second effort. That was enough for the Iranian prodigy to beat the high-profile Chinese lifter to gold by one kilogram, despite missing his third attempt of 240kg.
Chinese Taipei’s Dong Bing-cheng took the clean & jerk bronze with 215kg.
Liu Huanhua also secured the total gold with a 420kg mark, while Hasanbayev (392kg) and Dong (381kg) settled for silver and bronze, respectively.
Nasiri said: “It was my own and the head coach’s plan to start with a heavy lift and compete with my rivals for the snatch medal, but unfortunately, it did not work out.”
“Thank God, things went well in the clean and jerk, and I was able to win the gold medal. I hope to overcome my tough rivals in future competitions. I want to dedicate this medal to the people of Iran.”
Sunday’s triumph was the latest testament to Nasiri’s rise as a global contender in the heavyweight class.
He won a clean sweep of three golds in the 109kg event at last year’s World Junior Championships in Lima – adding to his two golds from the previous edition – and set junior world records of 231kg in the clean & jerk and 414kg in the total at the Senior World Championships in Forde, Norway, later in October.