TEHRAN - Iranian powerlifters dominated in heavyweight at the Fazza 12th Dubai 2022 Para Powerlifting World Cup.

Aliakbar Gharibshahi managed to set a new world record en route winning the gold medal in men’s up to 107 kg event.

Gharibshahi lifted 254kg in his final lift to better his own record by one kg. In the effort, he also shocked Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Sodnompiljee Enkhbayar from Mongolia who managed 250kg, asianparalympic.org reported.

Gharibshahi’s fellow lifters Ahmad Aminzadeh (265 kg) and Mahdi Sayadi (238 kg) claimed the one-two position in the men’s over 107 kg.    

Earlier, Tokyo 2020 champion Roohallah Rostami clinched the men’s up to 80 kg title with his final lift of 218 kg, which was one kg more than his teammate Rasool Mohsin. Other winners for Iran were – Mohsen Bakhtiar (men’s -59 kg) and Amir Jafari Arangeh (men’s -65 kg).

“We are satisfied with our men lifters’ performance here. The Dubai 2022 World Cup was a good opportunity for our players to be familiar with the opponents and shine on international stage. We hope we can break more records when we return here for the World Championships,” said Iran coach Ahmad Mollahosseini.