Mu Shuangshuang of China claimed the gold medal of women's over 75kg category on Thursday, sealing Chinese female lifters' gold sweep at the Asian championships.

Mu, gold medallist in Doha Asiad, snatched 132kg and lifted 173kg in clean and jerk, winning the title with a total of 305kg.

Annipa Moontar of Thailand finished second with a total of 265kg, and Geeta Rnai of India took the bronze medal at 239kg in total.

"I did not strain myself in the competition today because my leg still hurts a bit," the 23-year-old strongwoman said.

Mu's arch rival Jang Mi-ran from South Korea did not take part in the championships, which made the game much easier for Mu.

"I do not care at all whether Jang is here or not, since I have already set up specific strategy against her. Let's wait for the world championships and see the result," Mu said with full confidence.

The Chinese women weightlifting team swept 20 out of the totaling 21 gold medals at the Asian Championships. Moreover, the Chinese strongwomen smashed three world records of clean and jerk.

"This is a satisfactory result that we have expected," said Ma Wenhui, the chief coach of the Chinese women's team. "They have all passed the examination of the winter training camp and now we may move on to the next stage of preparation for the Olympics."

The Chinese weightlifting team has taken five-month winter training from November to April, and coaches had aimed at setting up new world records before coming to Tai'an for the Asian Championships.

"It is a rewarding training camp, though the girls have experienced a tough time," said Li Shunzhu, a coach of the Chinese women's team.

However, it is more than coincidence that all three world records were shattered in clean and jerk competitions, since China's women lifters have long been stronger in jerk than snatch.

"We have paid more attention to snatch, and we will definitely do more in the summer training camp," Ma said.

"The athletes are now in good shape, especially some new champions like Chen Xiexia of 48kg class and Qiu Hongmei of 58kg category, and I think they are on the rising path to get even better results," Ma concluded.
 
(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2007)