PNG’s Baru finishes 10th

PAPUA New Guinea weightlifter Morea Baru finished 10th in the men’s 61kg category after he lifted a total of 265kg at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday.
Competing in Group B among four other weightlifters, Baru began the snatch with 113kg in his first attempt.
The 31-year-old attempted 118kg in his second attempt unsuccessfully and later redeemed himself in his third attempt to record 118kg.
Baru began positively in the clean and jerk, lifting 147kg.
But he was unable to continue in his second and third attempts as he was unsuccessful in lifting 153kg to settle with 147kg.
That confirmed a total of 265kg.
The two-time Olympian was awarded an Olympic diploma after a top-eight finish in the 2016 Rio Olympics, coming sixth.
But Baru was unable to match that performance as he settled for tenth place after the completion of Group A. He won gold in the 2019 Pacific Games and silver in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Baru is the Oceania record holder for the snatch, and clean and jerk, and the Commonwealth record holder for the clean and jerk in the 61kg category.
He qualified for the Olympics through the Oceania quota and was placed in Group B of the 14 competitors.
The field of competitors included Chinese world record holder Fabian Li, in the total and snatch divisions, and Indonesian Eko Yuli Irawan, world record holder in the clean and jerk.
Fabian went on to win gold, setting an Olympic record along the way in the clean and jerk and total with a lift of 313kg. Irawan claimed silver, lifting 302kg. Kazakhstan’s Igor Son settled for bronze with a total lift of 294kg.