Weightlifting: Kazakhstan's weightlifter wins gold at Asian Championship in Astana

Weightlifter Anna Nurmukhambetova won the first gold for Kazakhstan at the Asian Weightlifting Championship that was held in Astana, Kazakhstan's capital, Vesti.kz reports. Anna competed in the -75kg weight class. The Kazakhstan participant of the London Olympics took the lead after her first competition lift. Anna lifted 114 kilograms in snatch. Her main rival Kim Un Ju from North Korea withdrew from the tournament after failing to complete her lowest weight of 113 kilograms. In the first clear and jerk attempt Nurmukhambetova claimed 130 kilograms and completed it. This made her the leader of the combined total as well. In her best attempt she lifted 135 kilograms and scored a victorious 249-kilogram total. The second place was taken by Wang Ya-jhen from Taipei and Chinese Lin Tingting earned the third place. Beside the gold medal in the combined weightlifting, Anna Nurmukhmbetova was the best in both snatch and clean and jerk. Another Kazakhstan weightlifter Anastassiya Shvabauer, who is a world junior champion, competed for a bronze medal at the championship. She was 5th after she lifted 98 kilograms in snatch. In the last attempt Anastassiya claimed 128 kilograms in clean and jerk but failed to complete it. Her overall result was 218 kilograms, which gave her an intermediate fourth place.