China's Xiang clean sweeps, Sraltsou sees off Kazakhstan pair at weightlifting worlds

China's female weightlifters continued their good performance at the world championships here on Thursday as Xiang Yanmei clean swept golds in the 69kg category, according to the official website of IWF.

   Xiang, 23, said she had to go for a run to make the weight.

   "At my first weigh-in I was 69.1kg, so I went for a run and kept running until I burned it off," said Xiang, who eventually weighed in right on the mark at 69.0kg. She won with two lifts to spare from Zhazira Zhapparkul, of Kazakhstan, and Russia's Anastasia Romanova.

   "I had not been training very well before the Championships so I'm very pleased with that," said the 2013 world champion and reigning Asian Games champion.

   In the men's 94kg, with the absence of two-time Olympic champion Ilya Ilyin, Vadzim Sraltsou of Belarus outclassed Kazakhstan pair Almas Uteshov and defending champion Zhassulan Kydyrbayev to win the title with a combined lift of 405kg.

   Uteshov and Kydyrbayev, who have been training with Ilyin, both entered a 405kg total but they finished second and third respectively.

   "Ilya was watching on television and we will call him later," said Uteshov, a former wrestler who came desperately close to victory.

   Uteshov was originally given his second snatch attempt of 180kg but the decision was overturned. If it had stood he would have had a total of 410kg.

   Straltsou was only sixth in the snatch but he made 230kg in clean & jerk. In the snatch seven lifters collectively made 13 attempts at 180kg or more and only two were successful. In the clean & jerk there were seven attempts at 230kg or better, and only two succeeded.

   China's Liu Hao failed his first five lifts and became the fourth Chinese male lifter to fail to register a total.  Endi