Weightlifting

Hoàng Thị Duyên seen competing at the 31st SEA Games in May in Hà Nội. She will take part in the Asian championship in the women's 59kg. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese athletes will compete in the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2022 which began yesterday in Manama, Bahrain.

Team Việt Nam has seven competitors, including the 31st SEA Games champions. They will begin the competition on Saturday in the Bahrain Conference Centre at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Nguyễn Huy Hùng, head of the Weightlifting Department of the Việt Nam Sports Administration, said the team includes both veterans and newcomers but are the best lifters in their weight classes.

He said all athletes are set to grab their best results in Bahrain because it is an important warm-up event for Vietnamese athletes ahead of the world championships in two months.

The world championship will count towards qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Two athletes with high medal hopes are Hoàng Thị Duyên in the women's 59kg category and Lại Gia Thành in the men's 61kg class.

Duyên, taking part in the Asian tournament for the sixth time, was the only athlete to win medals, two bronzes, for Việt Nam in last year's tournament in Uzbekistan.

The Tokyo Olympian successfully defended her title at the 31st Games in May in Hà Nội.

Thành was one of the most successful Vietnamese lifters at the Game, winning gold and setting two new records.

Other athletes include Phạm Thị Hồng Thanh, SEA Games champion in women's 64kg class, Khổng Mỹ Phượng, SEA Games silver holder in the women's 45kg; and three young athletes Nguyễn Trần Anh Tuấn (men's 55kg), Quàng Thị Tâm (women's 59kg) and Trần Thị Mỹ Dung (women's 49kg).

Also, in this competition, national champion Trịnh Văn Vinh will participate in the men's 61kg category. Vinh is still under a four-year world ban because of doping violations.

As he will be free to compete from next March, the coaching board wanted the athlete to join in competitions and improve his ability gradually. VNS