Chinese weightlifting team off to good start at Kazan Universiade

KAZAN, Russia - Chinese weightlifters had a flying start at the 27th Summer Universiade here on Sunday as they bagged two out of three gold medals up for grabs on first matchday.

Defending champion Xiao Hongyu of China had no trouble in winning her back-to-back titles in women's 48kg final on Sunday after she collected her last in the Shenzhen Universiade two years ago.

Chinese weightlifter Xiao Hongyu celebrates after winning women's 48kg final at the 27th Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia, July 7, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

"It's a pity that I did not break records of the clean-and-jerk and total, maybe it's because I felt a little bit nervous in the international event," said Xiao, who claimed the gold with a total of 187kg and broke the snatch record of the Universiade.

The 22-year-old girl said that she will afterwards be preparing for the Chinese National Games to be held in Northeast China's Liaoning province this September, adding that she might be retiring from the sport after the nationwide event.

"I have been training for almost 10 years so the sport is like a friend of mine, but it's time to say goodbye, because I should move on," said Xiao, who will be a post-graduate in Southwest University of China's Chongqing municipality.

The silver and bronze medals went to Paek II Hwa of DPR Korea and Khamsri Panida from Thailand respectively.

In men's 56kg final, Xiao's compatriot Xu Jingui was also in a class of his own, winning the gold with a total of 264kg. He was followed by Indonesian Bin Suwito Wijoyo Surahmat in second place and Sirghi Oleg in third.

"We have been well prepared for the games, and we studied our opponents in details so it's not that unexpected that we could win two golds," said Li Zengyin, the weightlifting team's leader.

In women's 53kg division, Japan's Yagi Kanae won the gold after winning a close match at 195kg, just 1kg ahead of the silver medalist Sutanan Kittima of Thailand. The bronze went to Coban Aysequl of Turkey.