Li Zheng of China won the gold medal of the men's 56kg category on the opening day of the World Weightlifting Championships on Saturday though he was not happy with the dim result of 280kg.

"Though it was my first time to win the world champion, I was not happy with the result. 280kg was not a satisfactory result for me," the 20-year-old Li Zheng said.

Sergio Alvarez Boulet of Cuba won the silver by hefting a total of 279kg, followed by last year's world bronze medalist Hoang Anh Taun of Vietnam, by hoisting 276kg.

Leading in the snatch competition at 128kg, Li failed his first and third attempts in the jerk, leaving huge space at 152kg for Hoang and Wang Shinyuan of Chinese Taipei, last year's world champion, to grab the gold medal.

However, Hoang and Wang, who had two lifts respectively after Li finished the competition, wasted their good opportunities and failed in the last two attempts to surpass Li.

"I just jerked 152kg, which was a terrible result to me. I could hoisted 161kg in the jerk in my daily training," Li added.

The 21-year-old Hoang also complained about his result and vowed to perform better in the Asian Games in Doha this year.

"I won the gold medal in the National Games on the September 20, then I had to come to Santo Domingo in a hurry. I felt tired and could not give my best in the worlds," Hoang told Xinhua.

"This bronze medal means nothing to me. I will do better in the Asian Games," he added.

The world championships, kicking off Saturday in Santo Domingo, attracted 366 strongmen and 203 strongwomen from 79 countries and regions to compete in 15 categories.

(Xinhua News Agency October 1, 2006)