Jakarta. Indonesian lifter Muhammad Rijal Abdillah brought home one gold and one bronze medal in the men’s 60-kilogram class at the 2025 Asian Youth Games (AYG) in Manama, Bahrain, on Sunday local time.

Rijal claimed gold in the clean and jerk category after successfully lifting 143 kilograms, and secured bronze in the total lift with a combined weight of 250 kilograms.

The Indonesian Weightlifting Federation (PABSI) praised Rijal’s progress throughout the competition. “He exceeded our initial projection of 106 kilograms in snatch and 141 kilograms in clean and jerk,” said PABSI performance director Hadi Wihardja on Monday. “After returning from Bahrain, he’ll focus on improving further for the 2027 Olympic Youth Games in Dakar, Senegal.”

The West Java-born athlete faced fierce competition from China’s Xunfa Chen, who swept two gold medals in snatch (120 kilograms) and total lift (261 kilograms). Despite Chen’s dominance, Rijal managed to break his winning streak in the clean and jerk event.

Rijal opened the snatch round at 100 kilograms before successfully lifting 107 kilograms, while Chen led the category with 115 kilograms and 120 kilograms. Both failed their final attempts at heavier lifts.

In the clean and jerk, Rijal opened with 136 kilograms and steadily increased to 143 kilograms, outperforming Chen, who failed his final attempt at 144 kilograms.

Rijal’s total of 250 kilograms earned him the bronze medal in overall performance, behind Chen’s 261 kilograms and India’s Maharajan Arumugapandian, who claimed silver with 256 kilograms.