Weightlifting

Ngô Sơn Đỉnh is one of Việt Nam athletes at the 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championship in South Korea. Photo sggp.org.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese champions have arrived in South Korea to compete at the Asian Weightlifting Championship, which is also a qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 11-day event opened on May 3 and competitions will begin on May 5 and wrap up on May 13 at the Jinju Arena, Jinju City, South Gyeongsang Province.

A 10-strong Việt Nam team will vie for medals against nearly 300 competitors in 10 weight categories each for men and women.

Ten categories for women are from 45kg to over-87kg while the men are competing from 55kg to over-109kg categories.

Vietnamese best hopes are Ngô Sơn Đỉnh, Đỗ Tú Tùng, Trịnh Văn Vinh, Phạm Hồng Thanh and Khổng Mỹ Phượng, who just completed their intensive course in China before arriving in Jinju.

Sơn and Tùng are to compete in the men's 55kg class where they are No 1 and No 2 seeds, respectively.

Sơn is the world silver medalist while Tùng is the world junior champion and record holder. Their registered weight of 268kg is much heavier than the rest competitors.

Vinh is the national champion in the men's 61kg. He just completed his international four-year ban because of illegal substance use.

Vinh is seeded No 3 in his category with his registered weight in total of 300kg. Previously, he won a gold medal in the Asian championship's clean and jerk event in 2016. He won a gold and set up two records in the 29th SEA Games before topping the world championship's snatch event in 2017.

He will be against top two seeds, Li Fabin and Chen Lijun, both of China who have same registered weight of 310kg.

Phạm Hồng Thanh is aiming for an Olympic slot at the Asian Weightlifting Championship. VNA/VNS Photo

Thanh is the defending champion in the women's 64kg after successfully winning three golds at last year championship. This year, she takes part in the 71kg class where she will face powerful Liao Guifang and Zeng Tiantian of China and Chen Wen-Huei of Chinese Taipei.

Phượng won two golds and one silver at last year tournament in the women's 45kg. She is No 3 seed behind Thai Pramongkhol Siriwimon and Kamnoedsri Khemika.

Other athletes are Nguyễn Hoài Hương and Phạm Đình Thi (women's 49kg), Võ Thị Quỳnh Như (women's 55kg), Quàng Thị Tâm (women's 59kg) and Trần Thị Hiền (women's over-87kg). VNS