Pham Thi Hong Thanh will compete in the IWF Grand Prix 2023 in Qatar. She will vie for a high place in the women’s 72kg class. (Photo: VNA) A team of the five strongest competitors arrived in Doha and areready for the tournament, which is taking place from December 4-14.
Competitions will be held across 10 weight categories for menranging from U55kg to over-109kg, and as many for women from U45kg to over-87kg.
The Grand Prix is one of the qualifying events for the Paris 2024Olympics and performances at the Qatar meet will award the lifters competing inthe Olympic weight classes with OQR (Olympic Qualification Ranking) points.
The OQR points will be based on the best total results (snatch,clean and jerk) that the athletes manage to lift in qualifying competitions.
The top 10 athletes based on OQR, which will include onehighest-ranked athlete per country in each weight category, will obtain Olympicquotas for their national teams after the qualification cycle ends in April2024.
"All Vietnamese athletes have prepared well with a view ofwinning an Olympic place in Paris 2024. Weightlifters are really confident anddetermined so we expect to make our Olympic dream come true," said NguyenHuy Hung of the Sports Authority of Vietnam.
In Doha, former world champion Trinh Van Vinh and Asian winnerNguyen Tran Anh Tuan will compete in the men's 61kg. There are a total of eightweightlifters in this category, from China, the Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Asian champion Quang Thi Tam will be seen in action in the women's59kg against reigning Asian Games gold medallist Kim Il-gyong of the DPRK andsilver medallist Shifang Lou of China.
There are top-notch weightlifters in the division from Canada,Venezuela, Italy, Belgium, Ukraine, the Philippines, and Canada.
Young talent Pham Dinh Thi will take part in the women's 49kg. Shewill go up against nine other weightlifters including those from Canada,Thailand, Uzbekistan, Mexico, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Asian bronze medallist Pham Thi Hong Thanh will vie for a medal inthe women's 71kg category.
She will face more than 10 other weightlifters from Canada, China,the US, Italy, the Philippines, and the UK.
Lastly, Sarno and Macrohon will take centre stage on December 12in the women’s 71kg division.
Among them Vinh and Tuan are the best hopes for Vietnam, accordingto Hung. Tuan is world No 8 while Vinh places No 10. Meanwhile world No 12Thanh would be a secret weapon which could 'explode' at the tournament.
After Qatar, athletes will take part in the Olympics' Asianqualification zone in February, 2024 in Uzbekistan, and the 2024 World Cup inApril in Thailand.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, there are 120 official spots inweightlifting (60 men, 60 women) and each country can have no more than three athletesin each weight class./.
VNA
