IWF World Cup, Day 3 Recap – Women’s 55 kg

Day 3 of the competition in Phuket showed us exciting lifting in the Women’s 55-kg weight category, where twelve female lifters were performing in the second session of the World Cup. 

Kang Hyon Gyong Prevails with 33 Kilo Gap, While Cambei Moved Up to the Weight Class

Let’s meet the TOP 3 lifters who claimed the spotlight with exemplary lifts and amazing performances: 

• 🥇Kang Hyon Gyong (PRK) – 103-131-234
• 🥈Cambei Mihaela-Valentina (ROU) – 91-110-201
• 🥉Sorokhaibam Bindyarani Devi (IND) – 83-113-196

The leader of the category was Kang Hyon Gyong who did Snatch at 103 kg at the last attempt, Clean & Jerk at 131 kg at the second lift, and 234 kg in total.

The second place was occupied by her opponent from Romania Cambei Mihaela-Valentina who did 201 kg in total, 91 kg in Snatch, and 110 kg in Clean & Jerk. 

The bronze medalist was Sorokhaibam Bindyarani Devi from India who snatched 83 kg, 113 kg in Clean & Jerk, and got a total of 196 kg.

Top Athletes’ Review

The 55-kg weight class winner Kang Hyon Gyong is a current World Record holder in Snatch of 104 kg. However, this time she lifted one kilo less.

Speaking about the silver medalist, Romanian Cambei Mihaela-Valentina, is a two-time gold medalist at the Europeans in 2023 and 2024, a silver medalist at the Junior and Youth World Championships, and a three-time gold medalist at the European Youth Championships. At the 2023 World Championships in Riyadh, she did one kilo more than today but improved her Clean & Jerk by four kilos.

It needs to be mentioned that Mihaela competes in the 49-kg weight category as usual. However, at this World Cup, she decided to gain weight and compete in the 55-kg division as her weight was 51.28 kg in the weight-in ceremony. An interesting fact is if she was competing in her category, she would rank 4th or 5th with a Snatch of 91 kg, got 5th in the Clean & Jerk, and finished 4th in total.

The bronze holder became Sorokhaibam Bindyarani Devi from India. Previously she won gold at the 2019 Commonwealth Championships and silver at the 2021 Commonwealth Champs.She also won gold in Clean & Jerk at the 2021 World Championships. She also broke Games record and national record in Clean & Jerk by lifting 116 kg. Today she performed C&J by three kilos less.

The American lifter Jourdan Delacruz who also usually competes in the 49-kg weight class, was assigned for the competition in the 55-kg weight category, but, unfortunately, she didn’t perform at all. 

Snatch results:

The Snatch performance was good overall, with several no-lifts on the second and third attempt, with no bombed-out lift.

• 🥇Kang Hyon Gyong (PRK) – 103 kg
• 🥈Cambei Mihaela-Valentina (ROU) – 91 kg
• 🥉Gallant Josee (CAN) – 85 kg

The performance in the Clean & Jerk exercise was okay, with the first successful tries predominantly. Here’s the list of Top 3 lifters who got medals in the exercise:

Clean & Jerk results:

• 🥇Kang Hyon Gyong (PRK) – 131 kg
• 🥈Sorokhaibam Bindyarani Devi (IND) – 113 kg
• 🥉Cambei Mihaela-Valentina (ROU) – 110 kg

Keep following the performances of the top world weightlifters the next days of this decisive qualifying event. Subscribe to our channels and follow all the updates for tomorrow’s competition day.