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Cha and Li lifted an identical 283kg in total but the former claimed the gold medal due his weight of 54.64kg against 55.69kg of the latter. Indonesian Eko Yuli Irawan of Indonesia took the bronze with a lift of 278kg.

Cha dedicated his gold to his country's leader Kim Jongil with a song, "Without you, there will not be us."

"Our leader loves sports. If he finds out about this [winning the gold], he will be very happy,'' said Cha who finished runnerup in both the snatch with a lift of 128kg and the clean and jerk with 155kg.

The 21-year-old Li lifted 130kg in the snatch to win his third straight World Championships since 2005. But two fouls in his first two attempts in the clean and jerk deprived him of a chance to take the overall title. He had to settle for 153kg in his last attempt.

"I'm a bit disappointed. It was all psychological as I pan¬icked on the platform,'' said Li whose shaved head reminded one of a Shaolin monk.

Li's gold was China's fourth. On Monday, Chen Xiexia made a clean sweep of gold in the women's 48kg.

The snatch bronze went to Vietnam's Anh Taun Hoang, who lifted 127kg.

Sergio Alvarez Boulet of Cuba retained his crown in the clean and jerk after lifting 156kg. Indonesian Eko Yuli Irawan's lift of 154kg earned him the bronze

Pongsak Maneetong, the lone Thai in the final, finished 12th in the snatch after lifting 111kg. He lifted 142kg in clean and jerk for ninth and was placed 10th overall.

by Lerpong Amsangiam

The Nation