In the men’s 55kg weight category, Tung joined both the youth and junior events. The 15-year-old athlete from Bac Ninh Province recorded 109kg in snatch, 137kg in clean and jerk and a total of 246kg in the youth category, winning all three gold medals.
Notably, the 2004-born weightlifter set two new Asian records, in snatch and total, in the 55kg youth category. In last March, Tung won three gold medals and set three youth world records in the men's 49kg division at the 2019 IWF Youth World Championships in the US.
However, Tung encountered fierce competition from host weightlifter Pak Chung-guk in the men’s 55kg junior category, as the DPR Korea lifted a total of 247kg to win gold, just 1kg over second-placed Tung. The Vietnamese weightlifter won another gold medal for clean and jerk in this category with 137kg, as well as a bronze in the snatch with 109kg.
Along with Tung, Pham Dinh Thi also brought good news in the junior women’s 45kg category as she won two golds, snatch (94kg) and total (165kg). Thi also bagged a silver in clean and jerk with a record of 71kg, behind teammate Khong My Phuong with 75kg.
After the first day, the Vietnamese weightlifting team won a total of seven gold, five silver and four bronze medals.
Vietnam’s medal hopes in the coming days rely on Ly Quang Vinh, Bui Dinh Sang (men’s 61kg), Vo Thi Ngoc Thanh (women’s 49kg), Nguyen Thi Thuy Tien (women’s 55 kg), Nguyen Van Hieu (men’s 73kg), Lam Thi My Le (women’s 64kg), Nguyen Quoc Toan (men’s 81kg), Vuong Truong Khoi (men’s 89kg) and Ho Thi Ha Phuong (women’s over 87kg).
The event lasts until October 27, bringing together hundreds of young weightlifters from 16 Asian countries and territories. Vietnam has sent 22 weightlifters to the Pyongyang’s tournament in the hopes of achieving good results to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
