Asian Weightlifting Federation President gives full marks to Turkmen organisers

Asian Weightlifting Federation President Mohammed Yousef Al Mana has given full marks to the organisers of the Senior Asian Weightlifting Championships, which in itself has been a test event for the 5th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games.

The Senior Asian Weightlifting Championships formed part of the Inspiring Ashgabat Test Event Series for Ashgabat 2017, and were held in Ashgabat from 23 to 29 April.

The federation’s top official was impressed with the high-level organisation of the Senior Asian Weightlifting Championships.

“For many of us, this is our first visit to Turkmenistan for a sports event. The organisers were very professional in their preparations for the competition and I’m very impressed. The people here are very generous and each of them know exactly what to do. Believe me when I say that in terms of organisation, the Asian event is as good as any competition conducted by the International Weightlifting Federation.”

Mohammed Yousef Al Mana had predicated that fans would watch competition of a World Championship-standard, and he was not mistaken.

“The last major competition in weightlifting was at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Asian lifters won 13 of the 15 gold medals on offer there. Only two gold medals went out of Asia – one to Latin America and another to Europe. So any Asian weightlifting event is practically just like the World Championships in terms of quality.”

Mohammed Yousef Al Mana was also delighted with the large number of participants.

“Just a look at the number of participating countries is enough to see how successful this competition is. We have competitors from more than 30 nations, which is an exceptionally high number. Usually, we see around 20 to 22 countries fielding athletes at an Asian event. The facilities, including the training hall and competition venues, are fantastic.”

Over the seven days of competition, 144 medals were won by 12 countries, with China leading the medal table with 36 medals in total (22 gold, eight silver, six bronze).

However, as Mohammed Yousef Al Mana said, the competition was about more than just the sport; it also provided an invaluable test of operational readiness of the state-of-the-art Ashgabat Olympic Complex before the historic 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in September.

 “When the Turkmenistan Weightlifting Federation wanted to host an Asian-level event to see their level of preparedness for the Games, we were more than happy to oblige. We believe in their vision.”

The Inspiring Ashgabat Test Event Series also included the Asian Kickboxing Confederation Championships and the Central Asian Short Course Swimming Tournament, and took place at the state-of-the art Ashgabat Olympic Complex between 23 and 30 April.