Topic: Apti upset by the Iranians and other stuff

[Mark Cannella]

Folks,

Chris Berman from ESPN often says when they actually do play football in the NFL, "that is why they play the game" when there is an upset.

So, I give you this account of tonight's 85A session.

The overall favorite, Apti from Russia was a foregone conclusion for first place and probably the only real question would of been, could the 2nd position Russian actually finish in 2nd position?

Starting out, there were a lot of missed lifts, including a Clark or two and some otherwise non-descriptive lifting.

Now, some of the lifts were powerful and I was impressed with the Pole in this session as well as the crazy fast Egyptian. Speaking of Egyptians, those coaches were pretty nice, spoke some pretty good English and since we helped them buy a SIM card earlier in the week, they 'liked' the USA. Facebook has nothing on us these days. 

Also, the 2nd positioned Russian certainly lit up the platform with his three successful easy snatches ending with 160.  Now, the world was still moving on its axis at this point and nothing was really amiss.  The Iranian snuck into 2nd with a hard fought 168 and probably tweaked his elbow in the process, as his third with 171 wasn't really even a high pull. 

In between his lifting was the man of the session, Apti, who killed his first attempt at 165, but then proved to be human and missed 170 by jumping forward.  Never-mind he said, let's go to 172 and kill that weight also to remind everyone why I was 2nd at this year's Euros.

Now a funny thing happened on the way to the PISA forum.  We sat in the stands for the clean and jerk and watched a lot of misses.  While we secretly dreamed of more misses to move Mike ahead in the standings, we all realized the reality of the situation although we were continually surprised at miss after miss.

At this point, we saw some good solid jerks from the Pole, the B Russian and a few other lifts around 190 to 201.  All solid technical lifts and all very explosive. 

Now, the world was about to go off its axis. Kianoush, the Iranian, hadn't even gone out onto the platform.  Apti crushed 200 and then called for 210 for his second.  The Iranian then proceeded to miss the jerk with 204 and most thought he was more show than go.  Meanwhile, the Iranian graduate students from Malaysia were screaming their heads off with chants of power and strength in their native language. Flag waving and doing the classic wave in the stands had us cracking up quite a bit during this show of strength from his fans.

At this point, we all thought, how much was Apti going to do today.  Well, he had to wait, because the Iranian contingent was up again for 204.  This was made and let me tell you, having the former 94kg and Reza, 105+ in your corner probably doesn't hurt your chances at a successful lift.  They certainly believed in the adage of strength in numbers.

After that lift, Apti's coaches dropped his next lift to 206 to maintain his margin while the Iranian went to 210.  As expected, 206 for the Russian was like a toy.  The jerk should be in every Weightlifting manual in America and possibly Popular Mechanics for the simplicity yet beauty of this Russian Icon lifter and his perfect form.

Now, here is where it got strange.  Apti then had 215 for his last lift.  The Iranian didn't care and stayed at 210, which then was his last lift and would put him in the lead based on bodyweight. We started wondering out loud the odds of a successful lift, a clean with no jerk, etc.  The permutations were crazy in our camp in the stands with a vantage point like a view to a kill.

Up comes the Iranian onto the platform.  His entourage is doing their thing and the crazy graduate students are doing their thing too.  This lifter was a 77kg at last year's worlds and out of the money and pretty well non-noteworthy except for the crazy roll of his shoulders like a nervous tic before he would lift.

Well, the nervous tic is still there, but not as pronounced.  What was there was a solid high hip shot and catch of the bounce and a crazy successful jerk to an amazed audience in the PISA center.  At this point, Apti now had to simply add one kilo at 211 after he lowered down from 215 and the championship was once again, mother Russia's.

Chris Berman must of coughed somewhere as the clean by Apti might have been the easiest thing I have ever seen on this planet, except this lift requires two stages.  That stage, the jerk, is probably is best suit, but not tonight. He clubbed it like he always does, but when I asked him what happened in the press conference afterwards, he said it was a technical error and right he was, as the lift came crashing down even as he valiantly struggled to hold on.

NO LIFT and the Iranians go wild.  I mean, they are going bonkers during the medal celebration and the press conference is about the same as they hold their own sidebar with phones ringing and the like.

Should be interesting come Paris and their 94kg former lifter now turned coach said to me in perfect English, the next winner will need at least 380 to achieve the top medal stand.

You know, it isn't often that I agree with anyone from Iran, but sport has a way of bringing us all together and I think he may be right.

Meanwhile, Iron Mike finished 7th, pending drug testing and it appears to be that they are testing from what I understand.

Good session and great fodder for tonight.  Meanwhile, the Malaysian men were asking me for a repeat performance on the press, but I begged off till tomorrow. Maybe Artie or Joe Dube can make a guest appearance and show them a thing or two of how pressing was done back in the day.  For me, back in the day is me hitting the hay as it was a really busy day. 

All the lifters are in, parents and admin peeps.  We have a full boat of personnel and expect big things out of Ian and Jared tomorrow.  Tomorrow, it is truly a view to a kill as both could make some noise. 

Positive thoughts then till tomorrow.

Mark


 

[Shaun Le Conte]

The Iranian has put on a lot of weight since last year's senior worlds in the 77 kg class. You can find a photo of him as a 77 kg in the article "Ten Sets of What" on the Sportivny Press web site.

From the Tehran Times:

[Mark Cannella]

The 94kg coach told me he moved up due to his elbow injury.