In the men's 81 kilograms Lu Delin was only fourth best in the clean and jerk but he had built such a huge lead in the snatch he could not be caught by the Olympic medallist and junior world champion who joined him on the podium.

The Tokyo 2020 73kg bronze medallist Rahmat Erwin, from Indonesia, had never lifted at this weight before and declined his third snatch attempt because of a lower back twinge.

He then came out and made all three clean and jerks to finish 181-191-349.

Although Erwin, who will be 22 tomorrow, clean and jerked 10kg more than Lu it was not enough to close the gap.

Lu made 165-188-353 to claim victory in his first international appearance.

Mukhammadkodir Toshtemirov, from Uzbekistan, improved on the 343kg that earned him the 2021 junior world title at this weight, making 154-192-346.

The 21-year-old failed with his final attempt at 199kg, which would have put him top in the clean and jerk but 1kg short of victory on total.

Yang Qiuxia, who had not competed on the international stage since 2017 when she finished out of the medals in the Asian Youth and Junior Championships, was a clear winner of the women's 71kg earlier in the day.

Yang, 20, did not need face a serious challenge as she made 106-122-228, failing only with her final attempt.

That was 16kg lower than her total at the Chinese nationals but it was far too good for her rivals.

Second place, for the second Asian Championships in succession, went to Gulnabat Kadyrova of Turkmenistan, on 102-117-219.

Mongolia’s Anuujin Ganzorig, in her 10^th year of international competition at the age of 24, had a career-best total of 215kg in her first try at this heavier weight class and won a senior continental medal for the first time.

Peng Cuiting will be the eighth and last Chinese lifter in action tomorrow and it will be a surprise if she fails to win the women's 76kg.