China's divers delight, Abdullah sets weightlifting world record

HANGZHOU, China: Indonesia's Rahmat Erwin Abdullah set a weightlifting world record and China's world-beating teenage divers wowed fans, but their soccer players crashed out on day 10 of the Hangzhou Asian Games on Tuesday (Oct 3).

Abdullah secured gold with a lift of 201kg in the men's 73kg clean and jerk, which beat the previous record of 200kg which he set last December.

The 22-year-old's lift follows three other world records set by North Korean weightlifters at this Games.

"I had a pretty good performance, but I was still not at my maximum," Abdullah said. "I always empty my mind every time I lift. I wanted to just focus on my clean and jerk, nothing else."

At the climbing wall his compatriot and 2023 world champion Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, 22, won gold in the women's speed event ahead of Asian record holder, Deng Lijuan from China, who took silver.

"I was unwell for about a week just before coming to Hangzhou so I see my achievement here as outstanding," Dewi said.

In the men's event Iran's Reza Ali Pour Shenazandi Fard, 29, defended the title he won in Jakarta in 2018 after China's Long Jinbao, 22, fell in the final and so finished with silver.

Dewi's compatriot, Veddriq Leonardo, 26, who was the pre-competition favourite, could only manage bronze after he too slipped in his semi-final contest with Fard.

In the soccer competition, China's women were beaten 4-3 by Japan in a goal-fest of a semi-final, joining the host men's team who were knocked out on Sunday by South Korea.

China went in 4-1 down at the break after a stinker of a first half. In the second half they pulled two goals back and were pushing for an equaliser at the end.

The result capped a miserable few months for the Steel Roses after they crashed out of