Toan lifts the silver at Asian Championships

Powerhouse: Tran Le Quoc Toan is on the verge of grasping an Olympic ticket after his silver medal performance at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in South Korea. — VNA/VNS Photo Quang Nhut

HA NOI — Tran Le Quoc Toan is on the verge of grasping an Olympic ticket after his silver medal performance at the ongoing Asian Weightlifting Championships in South Korea.

The Vietnamese athlete was second in the men's 56kg category with a total lift of 279kg, the same amount as gold medallist Li Fabin of China. Li is 80g lighter than Toan and so prevailed in the title on Tuesday.

Toan lifted 126kg in the snatch event and 153kg in the clean-and-jerk.

Third place went to Jadi Setiadi of Indonesia.

Li and Jadi have already earned Olympic berths, and Toan hopes to join them in London.

"Toan's individual result will definitely propel him to the Olympics. But Viet Nam registered to compete in this championships as a team, so we have wait until all athletes finish their competitions," said Nguyen Hong Minh, head of the Elite Sport Department.

"Our advantage is that almost all the strong delegations such as China, Indonesia and South Korea have their spots already, so it will not be a surprise if Viet Nam have a weightlifting representative in London," he said.

The Asian championships is the last chance for Viet Nam to secure an Olympic berth. Apart from Toan, Vietnamese Thach Kim Tuan also competed in this category but could only lift 269kg in total and ranked fourth.

According to the rules, the top seven men's teams overall will be given tickets.

On the women's side, Pham Thuy Dung and Nguyen Thu Hoai finished their competitions in the 48kg class standing fifth and ninth, respectively.

Yesterday lifter Nguyen Thi Thuy took part in the 53kg pool but failed to make top three.

The championships are scheduled to wrap up on April 30. Viet Nam are currently standing fifth in the medal tally. China are first followed by Uzbekistan and Indonesia. — VNS