Yap brothers power on in Asian Classic
Matthew and Matthias add six more gold medals to their growing collection
The Yap brothers are at it again. Their hunger to keep piling on the weight plates and pushing their limits have seen both Matthew and Matthias win multiple medals at powerlifting meets.
Yesterday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, they added six more gold medals to their collection at the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championships, with Matthew even setting a new Asian record.
The strength sport requires competitors to perform three lifts - the squat, bench press and deadlift.
It was a clean sweep of gold medals for Matthias, 18, in the Under-74kg sub-junior category when he triumphed in the squat (200kg), bench press (110kg) and deadlift (227.5kg), which gave him a combined total of 537.5kg.
He told The New Paper: "I'm thrilled to have won four gold medals, but slightly disappointed to have missed out on an Asian record for the squat.
"I didn't make my third squat attempt of 213kg, but I told myself not to let that disappointment affect the rest of my performance."
Matthias, who recently completed his diploma in pastry and baking from Shatec, also complimented his coach and eldest brother Marcus.
"A coach has to strategically select targets for attempt and I'm glad and grateful that Marcus and assistant head coach Henry Yeong have done that.
"If it weren't for my coaches and my teammates, I wouldn't have won the four golds."
Matthew, 19, competed in the Under-74kg junior category and won the squat. His effort of 248kg also broke the previous Asian record set in 2012 by 3kg.
The second-year media production and design student at Republic Polytechnic then went on to bag a bronze in the bench press with his effort of 150kg and his 265kg in the deadlift earned him a silver.
But his total of 663kg was good enough for the gold medal.
"The odds were stacked against me this time around. I wasn't in the best shape leading up to the tournament because of injuries," he said.
"Then there's the getting used to the cold, with temperatures dipping to minus 30 deg C here... I had to give everything I had...It's been a really wonderful moment for me."
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