The podium for the women's 45kg category at the Asian Weightlifting Championships, with Khong My Phuong of Vietnam on top ©Brian Oliver

China’s weightlifters had immediate success when they were in action at an international competition for the first time since winning a record seven gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

On the opening day of the 2022 Asian Championships in Manama, Bahrain, 20-year-old Wang Jiali won the women’s 49 kilograms on her first appearance as a senior.

Wang was the first Chinese athlete to make a lift outside China since Li Wenwen took the women’s super-heavyweight gold in Tokyo on August 2 last year.

Despite failing with her first snatch attempt Wang finished a clear winner with three good clean and jerks, making 81-105-186.

Her only previous international appearance was five years ago, when she won the youth world title.

Wang’s 186kg was 14kg less than she made in her last big competition, the 2021 Chinese National Championships, but it was enough for a sweep of golds ahead of Cheng Jing Lin of Taiwan on 181kg.

In third place on 172kg was Turkmenistan’s Yulduz Jumabayeva, who holds two junior world records at 45kg.

The Vietnamese lifter Tran Thi My Dung had the second highest entry total and was only one kilogram behind Wang in the snatch but her challenge never materialised as she bombed out in the clean and jerk - the third time in succession that she failed to make a total.

Wang Jiali won the women's 49kg category at the Asian Weightlifting Championships on her first appearance as a senior ©Brian Oliver
Wang Jiali won the women's 49kg category at the Asian Weightlifting Championships on her first appearance as a senior ©Brian Oliver

Vietnam had already won gold, as the 2019 junior world champion Khong My Phuong won the day’s other medal event, the women’s 45kg.

Phuong failed with two of her clean and jerks, but when she made 88kg at the second attempt the contest was over.

Indonesia’s Siti Nafisatul won the clean and jerk on 91kg but she was too far behind after the snatch, 7kg, to challenge Phuong for the gold on total.

Phuong made 78-88-162 to finish 4kg ahead of Nafisatul, who had won at this weight in July at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Turkey.

The Indian Harshad Sharad edged out Rose Jean Ramos from the Philippines for bronze.

Both Vietnam and China will have strong chances again in tomorrow's three medal events, 55kg and 61kg for men and 55kg for women.

The highlight is likely to be the women’s 55kg contest featuring the Olympic medallist Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan and China’s Yu Linglong, 22, who has won youth and junior world titles but has never competed as a senior.