South Korean Jang Mi-ran beat Mu Shuangshuang of China to win the women's over 75kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships on Tuesday in Doha.

The 22-year-old Jang, silver medalist in the Athens Olympic, lifted 128kg in the snatch, 2kg less than Mu's, but she hoisted 172kg in the jerk to win the gold with a total result of 300kg, 2.5kg less than hers in Olympics.

"I aimed at the gold medal before I came here. Actually I was not self-confident enough but my coach encouraged me," Jang told Xinhua after the match.

Jang's coach Yeom Dongchul said before the competition he had told Jang to take it easy.

"A competition is just a competition. You walked onto the stage and lift the barbell, and that's all you need to do in competition. That was what I told her,"Yeom said.

Chinese Tang Gonghong beat Jang Mi-ran in the Athens Olympics by 2.5kg, but after Tang's retirement Jang has been the weightlifter to beat.

"It is true that we are stronger than Chinese in this category since Jang Mi-ran came up. We expect an Olympic gold in the Beijing Games in 2008," Yeom said.

Mu, 22, who jerked 170kg for a total result of 300kg, had to settle for the silver due to the body weight disadvantage. Cheryl Haworth of U.S.A claimed the bronze at 287kg.

"I was quite excited when competing and satisfied with my physical condition. It was really a pity that I failed to win the gold," Mu said.

"Next time when Jang and I meet, I will not let her win so easily," she added.

Though lifting 174kg in her last attempt to reach a total of 304kg, Mu's jerk was judged invalid by all the three referees.

In the men's 94kg category, Nizami Pashayev of Azerbaijan overcame Nukhamat Sozaev to win the gold medal in the men's 94kg category with a total result of 401kg.

The 24-year-old Pashayev, placed first in the snatch at 185kg, met big challenge from Mukhamat Sozaev of Russia in the jerk when the Russian jerked 221kg, 5kg more than Pashayev's.

Pashayev claimed the gold medal of the total due to his dominance in the snatch, which was 8kg more than Sozaev's.

Sozaev, 23, took the silver with a total result of 398kg, and the Olympic Champion Milen Dobrev also hoisted 398kg, 9.5kg less than his result in Olympics, ranking third due to more body weight.

The World Weightlifting Championships, running from November 9 to 17, has a total of 15 golds on offer, featuring 307 weightlifters, including 192 strongmen and 115 strongwomen, from 61 countries and regions.

Source: Xinhua