Nooh makes golden debut in World Jr Weightlifting C’ships

KARACHI: Pakistan’s rookie weightlifter Nooh Dastgir Butt made a golden debut for the country when he lifted gold medal in the clean and jerk event of the +105 kilogramme competitions of the World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent on Saturday.

Nooh lifted 228 kg weight in his second attempt to finish first in clean and jerk. He was followed by Iran’s Ali Davoudi with 227kg (silver) and Varazdat Lalayan of Armenia with 177kg (bronze). Nooh, also the Commonwealth Junior Championships gold medallist, also claimed bronze in snatch and another bronze in total.

In snatch he lifted 171 kg to finish third. Ali Davoudi of Iran got gold in this event with a 192kg attempt and Varazdat claimed silver with an effort of 177kg. The gold in total went to Ali Davoudi with 419 kg, followed by Varazdat (399kg) and Nooh finished with bronze with the same score of 399 kg. This was the first time that Pakistan featured in the event.