Chonburi's weightlifter Pornchai sweeps 3 gold

Pornchai from Chon Buri eclipsed Pramote Petcharat's previous snatch record of 129kg by lifting 136kg.

He continued his record-smashing performance by lifting 174kg in the clean and jerk for an aggregate 310kg in the Olympic Total, smashing Suriya Dutthuyawat's 297kg mark which stood for nine years.

In the women's 53kg division, Asian champion and Nakhon Ratchasima-native Suda Chaleephay, who snatched the gold-medal with a 93kg effort in this year's Asian meet, lifted only 80kg in her pet snatch event and finished a disappointing fourth.

Nakhon Si Thammarat's Oranuch Chantho and Si Sa Ket's Rakniyom Ruenrerng also snatched 80kg but claimed silver and bronze medals owing to lighter body weight. The gold medal went to Nakhon Sawan's Kanchana Kongto, who lifted 82kg.

Suda claimed the remaining two gold after lifting 102kg in the clean and jerk for a combined 182kg in the Olympic Total.

Bangkok and Chon Buri fought a hard-fought duel yesterday, with the former ruling the pool with five gold and the latter dominating weightlifting with six gold. Bangkok also ruled the roost in the shooting events by claiming three gold.

Bangkok's Radomyos Madjua shattered Natthapol Chawanavanichavudh's 11-year-old record of 56.53 seconds in the men's 100m butterfly with a 56.48 secs effort.

At press time, Bangkok lead the medals table with 12 gold, followed closely by Chon Buri who bagged 11 gold. Chiang Mai are in third spot with five gold.