Asian Games: India wins maiden soft tennis medal

NAGOYA, Japan - North Korean weightlifter Ri Song Gum etched her nation's first gold medal of the Asian Games on Wednesday in an impressive display, breaking three world records in the women's 49kg category. Ri's performance added her name to the esteemed club of just four weightlifters who have achieved the remarkable feat of winning three Asian Games gold medals.

In the initial snatch discipline, Ri lifted 94kg, surpassing the previous world record of 93kg by a kilogram. She then shattered the clean and jerk world record twice, hoisting 116kg and then 121kg. Her total weight lifted of 215kg surpassed the old world record by a whopping 7kg.

India's Mirabai Chanu, who previously won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, finally secured an Asian Games medal for the third time. Chanu achieved a total of 198kg with a snatch of 87kg and a clean and jerk of 111kg. Meanwhile, Indonesia's Diana Tri Wijayana clinched the bronze with a total of 191kg, lifting 88kg in her snatch and 103kg in the clean and jerk.

Ri's achievement marks her as the fourth lifter, and the first woman, to win three Asian Games weightlifting gold medals. She joins the exceptional company of Iran's Mohammad Nassiri (1966-1974), South Korea's Kim Tae-hyun (1990-1998), and Iran's Behdad Salimi (2010-2018), all of whom have also secured three golds. It is worth noting that no one has ever accomplished the feat of winning four gold medals in weightlifting at the Asian Games.