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By Kang Seung-wooStaff Reporter
Three-time defending weightlifting world champion Jang Mi-ran of South Korea will go for a gold medal in the women's over 75-kilogram class at the Beijing Olympics Saturday.
The Athens Olympic silver medalist is favored to claim a gold because her rival Mu Shuangshuang of China was not selected to compete in Beijing.
Each country is allowed only four entries in women's weightlifting, and China chose to fill its spots with lifters in less competitive weight classes.
Jang and Mu share the world record of lifting a total of 319 kilograms in the snatch and clean and jerk.
But Jang has set a goal of surpassing that mark at the Olympics.
``Jang is really determined to win a gold medal even though she is a favorite in the field,'' said her coach Oh Seung-woo.
South Korean archer Park Kyung-mo moved into the quarterfinals of the men's individual competition on Friday.
Park defeated Poland's Rafal Dobrowolski 113-105 in an elimination round Friday in Beijing.
Park, who turned 33 on the day of the match, had a 56-53 lead after the first two ends, but hit three straight bull's eyes in the third end, while the opponent managed 24 points.
However, two other South Koreans, Im Dong-hyun and Lee Chan-hwan, lost in the round of 16.
Lee was tied with Cheng Chu Sian of Malaysia at 105-105 after 12 arrows. But in the tiebreaker, Chu Sian hit a nine-point target on his second arrow to oust the South Korean, who gained eight points.
Lee set an Olympic record of 117 points in qualification Wednesday.
Im, a two-time world champion and world No. 1, fell to Victor Wunderle of the United States 113-111.
Wunderle was a silver medalist in the individual field at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
After the match was tied at 28 in the first end, Im scored eight points on his fourth attempt, while the American archer's arrows hit nine. The shot gave Wunderle a lead that he did not relinquish.
The Korean women's handball team allowed a goal with one second remaining in a 33-32 loss against Brazil. It was the Koreans' only defeat in four matches at the Beijing Olympics.
South Korea was trailing 17-12 at intermission, before coming back to tie the game 25-25.
After the score was tied again at 32-32, Brazil center back Ana Rodrigues scored the winning goal with one second left.
South Korea has a record of two wins and one loss with one draw in Group B, and will play its final preliminary match against Hungary Sunday.
South Korea, which won Olympic championships in 1988 and 1992, is likely to advance to the quarterfinals, regardless of the outcome of the Hungary match.
Lee Jae-jin and Hwang Ji-man lost 22-20, 21-8 against Chinese pair Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in the badminton men's doubles semifinals.
The South Korean duo came back from a 20-17 deficit to tie the score 20-20 in the first set. But the Chinese team scored the next two points to win the set and rolled to a lopsided victory in the second set.
Meanwhile, North Korean shooter Kim Jong-su failed a doping test and was stripped of the silver medal he claimed in the men's 50-meter pistol and the bronze he won in the 10-meter air pistol.
Vietnamese gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do also failed a doping test.
They are the second and third athletes caught doping at the Beijing Olympics following Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno.
ksw@koreatimes.co.kr
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