Thailand’s Chiraphan Nanthawong won the the women’s 48 kilograms event on the opening day of the IWF Junior World Championships in Tashkent ©IWF

Thailand’s Chiraphan Nanthawong claimed the first gold medals of the 2018 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Junior World Championships on her way to winning the women’s 48 kilograms event on the opening day of competition in Tashkent.

The 18-year-old managed a total of 181kg to triumph by a margin of nine kilograms at the Uzbekistan Sport Complex.

It came after she won the snatch with 81kg and the clean and jerk with 100kg.

Victory for Nanthawong sees her upgrade on the silver medal she won at the 2017 IWF Junior World Championships in Tokyo, where she registered a total of 174kg.

The overall silver medallist was Brazil’s Luana Oliveira Madeira, who improved on her bronze medal-winning performance from last year with a total of 172kg.

She also finished as the runner-up in the snatch and clean and jerk with 76kg and 96kg respectively.

Rounding out the overall podium was India’s Jhilli Dalabehera, despite lifting in the B group.

The 2017 Commonwealth junior champion achieved a total of 167kg.

She also took bronze in the snatch with 75kg.

Another lifter from the B group, Japan’s Rira Suzuki, was the clean and jerk bronze medallist with 95kg.

Vietnam’s Lai Gia Thanh claimed a clean sweep of gold medals in the men's 56kg event ©IWF
Vietnam’s Lai Gia Thanh claimed a clean sweep of gold medals in the men's 56kg event ©IWF

The men’s 56kg competition also took place today with Vietnam’s Lai Gia Thanh securing a clean sweep of gold medals.

Lai had only one good lift in the clean and jerk, 144kg, but it was enough to seal overall victory with 266kg - an improvement of 17kg on his total in 2017.

The 2018 Asian junior champion earlier won the snatch with 122kg, having come out last when all the other athletes had made their attempts.

The overall silver medallist was Colombia’s Jairo Luis Garcia Perez, the 2017 Pan American youth champion, with 254kg.

He was also the silver medallist in the snatch with 117kg and bronze medallist in the clean and jerk with 137kg.

Vietnam’s Ngo Son Dinh finished third overall with 249kg.

Ranking third after the snatch with 113kg, the 2018 Asian youth champion had only one good lift of 136kg in the clean and jerk.

An injury during his second attempt prevented him from coming out for a third one.

South Korea’s Lim Kanghun secured the clean and jerk silver medal with 143kg after ranking fifth in the snatch with 106kg.

A total of 246 athletes from 49 countries are competing at the 2018 IWF Junior World Championships, scheduled to continue tomorrow with the men’s 62kg and women’s 53kg categories.