Kitakyushu 2018: Siamand Rahman delivers

Siamand Rahman may not have broken a record this time but his sole presence put him in the spotlight as he comfortably won the men’s over 107kg on the final day (12 September) of competition at the Asia-Oceania Open Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan.

The world’s strongest Paralympian lifted 280kg in his second round. He then surprisingly failed his attempt at 285kg. But the Iranian powerlifter is not worried. His goal was to win the title and achieve qualification for Tokyo 2020, and he did.

“I will put my gold medal together with my others in my room,” Rahman said.

“It is hard to describe my feelings right now, but I can say that I will surprise everyone at the Asian Para Games and, later on, at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.”

Rahman has already shared that he will attempt to break his own 310kg world record at Indonesia 2018, in October.

Iran’s Mansour Pourmirzaei (245kg) claimed silver and Iraq’s Faris Al-Ageeli (240kg) took bronze.

Men’s up to 107kg

There was a dramatic ending in his category, with the gold medal only decided in the final lift.

Iranian debutant Aliakbar Gharibshi was leading thanks to an Asian record lift of 138kg in the last round. But Mongolia’s Sodnompiljee Enkhbayar followed with a 139kg lift, taking the gold medal and setting a new continental record.

Enkhbayar decided not to attempt to break the world record of 143kg this time but to save his strength for another occasion.

“I am very happy for having won the Asia-Oceania title,” he said. “I expected to break the Asian record and I did it. But I will go for the world record at October´s Asian Para Games.”

Gharibshi’s compatriot Saman Razi (222kg) collected bronze.

Women’s up to 86kg

Two more Asian records were set on the final day.

China’s Fengmei Li claimed the first of those thanks to a 138kg lift in her last attempt.

The 44-year-old had to come from behind as she was second to compatriot Zheng Feifei (136kg) by the end of the second round. But the latter failed to lift 139kg and Li celebrated her first gold medal since the 2015 European Open Championships.

Jordan’s Tharwh Alhajaj (120kg) completed the podium.

Women’s over 86kg

China’s Xuemei Deng was the last powerlifter to break an Asian record as she cleared the bar at 146kg, 11kg more than the mark set by compatriot Li Ruifang in 2016. “I am very happy, I felt strong,” she said.

She was followed by South Korea’s Hyunjung Lee (114kg) and Philippines’ Adeline Ancheta (105kg).

Full results are available on the Kitakyushu 2018 website.

The year´s fourth and last regional Championships will be the Americas Open Championships in Bogota, Colombia, between 5 and 9 December.