Two Chinese young lifters stole the limelight as they claimed the titles in the men's 62kg and women's 53kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships in Doha on Thursday.

The 22-year-old Qiu Le sustained his momentum to win in the worlds following his victory at the National Games in October. His total result levelled the junior world record created by Olympic Champion Shi Zhiyong.

"I lifted a total of 322kg to prove my ability, and let people know it was not the coincidence to lift such a weight," Qiu told Xinhua after the match.

Qiu also lifted 322kg in the National Games, but he was regarded as a lucky guy to lift such a great weight.

"It was quite encouraging that Qiu could continue to win. He felt tired after the National Games, but he was very determined to win here," Qiu's coach Tang Jinbo said.

"I felt no pressure although it was my first time to compete in the worlds. I just told myself time and again that if I performed my best, I would win for sure," Qiu added.

Though he met challenge from his national teammate Zhang Ping, Qiu managed to beat him by hoisting a winning weight of 178kg in the third attempt to grasp the gold.

Zhang, 26, had to settle for the silver medal at 170kg and Adrian Jigau of Romania, silver medalist at European Championships in 2005, took the bronze at 292kg.

Earlier in the day, the 17-year-old national champion Li Ping made her successful debut in the worlds as she broke two world junior records to win the women's 53kg gold.

"I didn't have much confidence before the competition, but when I made a good lift in the snatch, I felt I could perform my best tonight," Li told Xinhua after the competition.

Li started breaking world junior record when she lifted 123kg in her first attempt in the jerk, totalling 221kg to smash the previous record of 220kg written by her compatriot Deng Jianying.

Li flinged her power in her second lift in the jerk to hoist 126kg to break the world junior record of the jerk by 1kg, refreshing the world junior record of the total at 224kg, 4kg more than the previous one by Deng.

Li tried to slam the senior world record of jerk and total in her last attempt by asking for 131kg but failed.

The 21-year-old Junpim Kuntatean of Thailand challenged Li during the competition but had to settle for the silver at 223kg, just 1kg less than Li's. Yudergue Contreras of Dominican Republic placed third with a total of 211kg.

Called up into the national squad in May, Li made a huge coup at the National Games in October when she lifted a total of 230kg to win her maiden domestic gold medal.

"She showed her strong mental power in the competition. I think winning at the worlds was her first good step toward Beijing Olympics," Li's coach He Yicheng said.

Source: Xinhua