WEIGHTLIFTING – BAHRAIN’S Ingrid Vanesa Segura Grueso and Jhon Murillo were crowned champions of their respective categories last night in the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships 2025, currently being held in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Grueso put in a sensational performance en route to claiming a sweep of the gold medals – including for total, snatch, and clean and jerk – in the junior women’s 69kg division, while also setting a pair of new junior Asian records.
Murillo, meanwhile, bagged two gold medals and one silver in the youth men’s 94kg category. He triumphed in the snatch and total, and came away with his silver medal in the clean and jerk. Murillo also won two bronze medals in the junior category.
Bahrain Weightlifting Federation president Eshaq Ebrahim Eshaq was amongst the officials who presented the medals during the awarding ceremonies for Grueso and Murillo.
The prestigious meeting, sanctioned by the International Weightlifting Federation and Asian Weightlifting Federation, features participants, both men and women, from more than 20 countries. They are battling it out in youth and junior weight categories.
Grueso was in a class of her own en route to securing her continental title in the junior women’s 69kg division.
Grueso first grabbed her snatch gold with a best lift of 104kg on her third attempt. She then added a gold for the clean and jerk with a new junior Asian record for women of 134kg. That helped her earn her gold medal for total at 238kg, setting her second junior Asian record in the competition.
Joining her on the podium for snatch were Phattharathida Wongsing of Thailand with a 103kg lift, while Aiganym Zhanbolat of Kazakhstan took the bronze at 90kg.
In the clean and jerk, Grueso was dominant as Wongsing lifted just 120kg to claim the silver medal. Hsin-Ning Chen of Chinese Taipei won bronze with a 119kg lift.
On totals, Wongsing and Chen were also on the podium. Wongsing had a 223kg total and Chen posted a mark of 205kg for silver and bronze, respectively.
On the distaff, Murillo came narrowly short from matching Grueso’s gold medal sweep in his youth men’s 94kg division.
He got off to a hot start, claiming the snatch gold with a best lift of 154kg. It came on his third and final attempt. Parv Chaudhary of India took silver at 145kg, while bronze was clinched by Alisher Osmanov of Uzbekistan at 141kg.
Chaudhary then got the better of Murillo in the clean and jerk, taking the gold medal with a 183kg lift. He beat his Bahraini counterpart by just three kg, as Murillo lifted 180kg on his second effort and was unsuccessful in his final attempt at 184kg. Minguen Kim of South Korea claimed the bronze medal with a 177kg lift.
Following both portions, Murillo’s performances were enough to secure the gold medal for total at 334kg. Chaudhary followed as runner-up with a 328kg aggregate, while Yslam Akmyradov of Turkmenistan came away with the bronze at 315kg.
The kingdom’s team at the Kazakh capital also includes lifter Adrian Bonilla. The delegation is headed by Eshaq.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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