VietNamNet Bridge – Thach Kim Tuan brought home one silver and two bronze medals from the World Youth Weightlifting Championships in Penang, Malaysia, on Thursday.

In the snatch, he succeeded in lifting 120kg on his second attempt to take the bronze.

The gold and silver medals went to Li Fabin of China and Askari Majid of Iran with lifts of 124kg and 123kg on their third attempts, respectively.

In the clean and jerk event, the 17-year-old weightlifter managed 145kg on his first attempt, followed by lifts of 150kg and 155kg that were eventually good enough to earn him the silver medal.

Om Yun-chol of North Korea surprised many by taking the gold with a lift of 156kg. Fabin took the bronze with 151kg.

Fabin won the overall gold medal with a combined weight of 275kg, followed by Majid and Tuan on 273kg. However, Tuan was relegated to third due to the fact he was 0.02kg heavier than his rival.

The 17-year-old said his chances of qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics were very slim but with age on his side, he would work hard.

"Tuan has qualified to compete for a berth in London. However, he must pull out all the stops in the Asian qualifying round next April in South Korea," said Do Dinh Khang, head of the National Sports Administration's weightlifting section.

Tuan has been widely tipped to replace Viet Nam's most famous weightlifter, Hoang Anh Tuan, who won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 in the men's 56kg category.

Bulgarian expert Deykov Diyan Yordanove, closely linked with Viet Nam's weightlifters, praised Tuan's natural ability and hard work, saying that Tuan would have a bright future if he focused on his strong points.

Last year, HCM City's Tuan won three silver medals at the World Youth Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News