The Birds Eye British Championships- British International Open Male Categories Preview

The Birds Eye British Championships are only days away with some of the best weightlifters from around the world set to compete at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Following on from our female preview here are some of the best male lifters who are set to light up the International Open platform. 

The first International Open Men’s group will see Welsh Commonwealth Games Champion Gareth Evans challenging Petr Petrov of the Czech Republic’s for the 73kg title. Evans has registered a total of 281kg in preparation for this event and he has previously won 4 British titles in the past.  At the 2015 national championships in Bangor he successfully pulled off a double bodyweight snatch. Petrov meanwhile has previously picked up a 15^th place at the World Championships and has entered with a total of 290kg. Ibrahimli Pasha is also one to watch as the Azerbaijan athlete is only starting 1kg adrift from Evans and might cause an upset. He finished 13^th at the World’s last year.

Kazakhstan’s Nurlybek Samenov will be going head to head with fellow compatriot Denis Ulanov for the 81kg crown. The latter won a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics. It should be a tightly contested affair as both have posted entry totals of 340kg. There will also be a bit of domestic interest for the final podium position as Team GB’s Jack Oliver is seeded third on 322kg. He will have to fend off a challenge from the Republic of Ireland’s Sean Brown who starts 12kg adrift. However, only 5kg separated the pair at the European Championships earlier this year. Meanwhile fellow continental competitor Chris Murray completes the field on 304kg.

Zygimantas Stanulis is in pole position for the Men’s 96kg class. The Lithuanian lifter is a three times European Silver medallist and is set to start on 360kg. His main opposition will be Ukraine’s who is starting 10kg further back. He snatched a bronze medal at the European Championships and finished 5^th overall. The fight for third place should provide the most interest as Team England’s Edmon Avetisayn is starting on 342kg and will be up against Ghana’s Forrester Osei and Kazakhstan’s Ilya Ilyin who are both only 2kg adrift. Ilyin is a veteran of the sport having won four-time World Championships with the latter coming in 2014. More recently he finished 5^th at the Asian Cup while Osei achieved the same result at last year’s Commonwealth Games.

Cyrille Fagat Tchatchet II is the leading contender for the Men’s 102kg class. The 2014 Commonwealth Games competitor is due to enter with a British record total of 360kg which he achieved at the British Universities & Colleges Championship in April.  That result puts him 40kg clear of Estonia’s Leho Pent who has previously took a pair of bronze medals at the European U23 Championships. 2017 Czech National Champion Jiri Gasior is the final International Open athlete in this group. He starts a further 10kg back on 310kg.  

The penultimate group will feature Ukraine heavyweight Dmytro Chumak entering with 370kg in the 109kg class. He won gold at the European Championships earlier this year with a winning total of 391kg. Chumak also competed at the Rio Olympics and finished 4^th overall. Lithuania’s Arnas Sidiskis is the second seed on 350kg. Last year he finished 6^th at the European Championships in the 105kg category with a total of 356kg. Great Britain’s Owen Boxall has the third highest entry total for the event but will be in contention for silver. He won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games last year and is set to start around the 345kg mark.

The Men’s Super-Heavyweight division will feature former World Championship silver medallist Mart Seim who enters the 109kg+ competition with a jaw dropping 400kg total. However, even this is low by his usual international standards as the Estonian has regularly lifted totals in excess of 430kg in recent years. At Houston in 2017 Siem hit 444kg. He will face a challenge from two Czech lifters in the form of Kamil Kucera & Jiri Orsag who both start on 380kg. Two-time European U17 medallist Enzo Kofi Kuworge is also entering with 380kg which should produce a spectacular battle for second spot and potentially first in the unlikely event that Seim fails to finish.

Tickets for this event can be purchased here with a number of ticketing options available.

For further information on the event please contact competitions@britishweightlifting.org.