The Tradition Of Winning Medals At The Asian Games Has Stopped, Eko Yuli Looks At The Olympics

Indonesian lifter, Eko Yuli Irawan. (Photo via Antara)

JAKARTA - Indonesia's mainstay lifter, Eko Yuli Irawan, failed to win a medal at the 2023 Asian Games. This is the first time for the athlete from Lampung to participate in the biggest sporting event in Asia.

Down in the 67kg class which took place at the Xiaoshan Sports Center Gymnasium, Eko's struggle ran aground following his failure to execute three clean & jerk lifts.

The holder of two silvers and two bronze medals in different classes at the Olympics was only able to perform a 145kg snatch on the second try.

Eko departed with a fairly high target force than his opponents, but instead he failed to execute the first batch of snatch 142kg.

In the second batch of snatches, Eko's efforts were successful after the target was increased to 145kg to match Chen Lijun's achievement which was the highest number among his rivals towards the third snatch.

In the third snatch, Eko actually managed to lift and hold the barbell 148kg above his head but was disallowed by the referee because the lifter's hand was considered shaky.

When Eko failed in the third batch of snatches, Lijun, the Tokyo Olympic champion, actually set a record for the Asian Games with an lift of 150kg.

After the break, Eko failed to execute three attempts to lift 175kg on a clean & jerk. In fact, he could lift that weight during the world championship in Riyadh earlier this month.

While Eko's best record on clean & jerk is the 176kg he made at the IWF Grand Prix in Cuba in the middle of this year.

"Indeed, the preparations have not been maximized for this class. There is something that is certain about why I am in the 67kg class, later let the coach talk," said Eko, as reported by Antara.

"In the future, it will definitely be prepared for the Olympics. Hopefully the results will be better at the Olympics later," he continued.

The failure in Hangzhou also broke Eko's tradition of winning medals at Asia's biggest sporting event after previously he got gold in Jakarta-Palembang 2018, bronze in Incheon 2014, and bronze in Guangzhou 2010, all three of which he won in 62kg class.

Eko had to watch Chen Lijun bring home gold for China with a total lift of 330kg from 150kg snatch and 180kg clean & jerk.

Meanwhile, Ri Wonju won silver for North Korea with a total lift of 321kg; 141kg snatch and 180kg clean & jerk.

Korean athlete Lee Sangyeon completes the podium to win bronze with a total lift of 317kg; 137kg snatch and 180kg clean & jerk.

"The original Eko played at 61kg, but for this Asian Games, because there is something that he feels is not ready for, he plays at 67kg," said Indonesian weightlifting team coach Muhammad Rusli without specifying the cause.

The world championships in Qatar by the end of the year will be Eko's closest target to find tickets to Paris 2024 before the last two qualifying opportunities next year in Uzbekistan and Thailand.

Eko temporarily ranked third in the world in the 61kg class with a total lift of 300kg behind Li Fabin from China (308kg) and Sergio Massidda from Italy (302kg).