Nigeria, China lifters shine

Indians today returned without a medal from the weightlifting competition at the Afro-Asian Games as champions from Nigeria and China won two gold medals.

In the women's 58 kg, Li Wang of China went very close to rewriting her own world record en route to winning another gold with a combined effort of 227.5 kg (105, 122.5) while India's Prasmita Mangaraj lost the bronze to her Taipei rival Tsu-Ling Lin by just 2.5 kg.

Twenty-one-year-old Gbodo Franca, the African record-holder, won the silver with 212.5 kg.

All African men's champion Edward Jacob won the gold in the 85 kg men's event, upsetting Ghorbani Shahrouz while Akramzhan Khalmatov took the bronze.

Prasmita lifted 87.5 in the snatch and was tied with Lin but things took a different turn, with the Indian failing in her first attempt to lift 107.5 kg. Though she cleared the weight in the second round she could not improve it in the third.

Meanwhile, the Taipei girl pocketed the bronze medal when she successfully lifted 110 kg in clean and jerk.

Earlier, All-African Games champion Edward Jacob staged a remarkable recovery to clinch gold in the 85 kg event. After finishing second in snatch at 150, Jacob lifted a best of 195 kg in clean and jerk and the combined effort of 345 dashed the hopes Iran's Ghorbani Shahrouz, who aggregated 342.5 to take the silver.

Kazakhstan's Akramzhan Khalmatov won the bronze.

The small Nigerian contingent in the stadium erupted into a jig after Jacob lifted the magical 195 kg with perfection. Jacob, who runs a furniture shop at Edo in Nigeria, had won gold in the 85 kg category at the Abuja Games.

Mohamad Zakir of India finished at the bottom, lifting a total of 310 kg - 135 from snatch and 175 from jerk.

Results:

Men - (85 kg): 1-Edward Jacob (Ngr) 345 kg (150, 195), 2-Ghorbani Shahrouz (Iri) 342.5 kg (157.5, 185), 3-Akramzhan Khalmatov (Kzk) 335 kg (145, 190).