Vietnamese lifters secured seven gold, five silver and four bronze medals at the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championship in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on October 21 – the first day of competition.

Do Tu Tung on the top podium for gold medal (Photo of the organisers)

Four of the golds were obtained by Do Tu Tung. The 15-year-old competed in both youth and junior U55kg for boys.

Tung triumphed at the youth level with three titles in snatch (109kg), clean and jerk (137kg) and total (246kg).

His results in the snatch and total were tournament records. He was followed by two DPRK athletes.

His results were the same in the junior level where he was against athletes at the age of 18-19.

Then he topped the clean and jerk to secure his fourth title. He was second in total and third in snatch.

In March, Tung competed in the World Youth and Junior Championships and earned three golds in the U49kg in the US.

In the girl's U45kg category for junior, Vietnamese Pham Dinh Thi won twice in the snatch (94kg) and total (165kg) and secured silver in the (71kg).

Her teammate Khong My Phuong won the clean and jerk with a lift of 75kg. She also scored a silver in the total (161kg) and a bronze in the snatch (86kg).

Viet Nam athletes also took two silvers and three bronzes in other categories on  21 October.

In the following days, other Vietnamese athletes will compete for more titles, including Ly Quang Vinh and Bui Dinh Sang (boys' 61kg), Vo Thi Ngoc Thanh (girl's 49kg), Nguyen Thi Thuy Tien (girl's 55kg), and Lam Thi My Le (girl's 64kg).

The Asian championship will be held until  27 October in Pyongyang. It has drawn athletes from 16 countries and territories.

Viet Nam sent 22 representatives seeking slots at the Youth Olympics in 2020 in Switzerland.

(Source: VNA)