WEIGHTLIFTING – Four of the kingdom’s top lifters, spearheaded by Paris 2024 Olympics bronze-medallist and reigning continental champion Gor Minasyan, have been named as part of Bahrain’s growing delegation for the 20th Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan.
The star-studded line-up also includes rising lifter Jokser Albornoz Quinto to complete a two-man medal bid for Bahrain, while Ingrid Vanesa Segura Grueso and Alina Marushchak will be going for gold in the women’s events.
The Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) announced yesterday the quartet of weightlifters for the upcoming Asiad, which is scheduled for September 19 to October 4, but with a number of sports starting sooner, as early as this Thursday.
Minasyan is the defending Asian Games champion in the men’s over-109kg. He struck gold in the 2022 edition held in Hangzhou, China with a staggering total of 457kg – from a 212kg snatch and a 245kg clean and jerk.
Minasyan was also the title winner in the men’s over-110kg division at the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2026 held in Gandhinagar, India, last May, and will yet again be a favourite to step onto the podium in his weight category, which will be confirmed closer to the event.
Quinto, Grueso, and Marushchak are all set to make their Asiad debuts for Bahrain’s national team.
They have won medals for the kingdom in past events both on the world and continental stages.
The Asian Games’ weightlifting competition is scheduled to take place from September 23 to 29 at Nagoya City Trade and Industry Centre.
Bahrain’s lifters are joining their compatriots who are already pencilled in for five-on-five basketball, judo, cycling, shooting, wrestling, taekwondo, jiu-jitsu, badminton, esports, and athletics.
More than 11,000 athletes from the Olympic Council of Asia’s (OCA) 45 member nations, both men and women, will be vying for the podium in 469 medal events across 43 sports at this year’s Asian Games.
Bahrain are participating for the 14th time in the quadrennial OCA spectacle.
The kingdom first competed in 1974 and have been a part of the Asian Games in each edition since.
Aside from the four lifters, Bahrain’s other athletes revealed so far by the BOC include a 12-player reinforced squad for men’s five-on-five basketball; Said Sadrudinov, Askerbii Gerbekov, Ruslan Poltoratskii, Mukhamed Aloev, Gadzhidavud Gasanov, Israpil Sagaipov, and Sukhrob Boqiev in men’s judo; Ahmed Madan and Ahmed Naser in men’s road cycling; Maryam Hassani, Maryam Alasam, Maryam Sulaiti, Marwa Bu Araki, Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Tammar Alwatt, and Saeed Hassan in shooting; Shamil Sharipov, Magomedrasul Asluev, Magomed Sharipov, Khidir Kurban Saipudinov, and Alibeg Alibegov in men’s wrestling; Fatema Sadeq Kalawadh and Ola Abdulaziz Aldoseri in women’s taekwondo; Khalid Faraj and Abdulla Alshaikh in men’s jiu-jitsu; Adnan Ebrahim in men’s badminton; and Mohamed Hujairi, Fadhel Abdulla Taher, Hassan Khalil Ebrahim, Hussam Rashed Al Ansari, Mohammed Abdulnabi Darbas, and Yousef Abdulaziz Bahram in esports.
Reigning Olympic champion and former world champion Winfred Yavi, meanwhile, will spearhead a full-strength, 34-member athletics team, who are expected to be amongst the kingdom’s best bets for the podium.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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