NINGBO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese weightlifter Li Fabin took three gold medals in the men's 61kg division at the Asian Championships here on Saturday.

Li, world junior champion in men's 56kg in 2011, lifted 141kg in the snatch and jerked 171kg with a total of 312kg to claim the gold medals of snatch, jerk and total. The 26-year-old tried to lift 175kg, challenging the world record of the jerk set by Eko Yuli Irawan of Indonesia at 174kg, but failed.

"I really wanted to break the world record, and of course I was nervous. I was too emotional to lift 175kg," said Li.

The 29-year-old Irawan, winner at Jakarta Asiad, did not show his real power in the snatch as he failed two attempts and could not overtake Li in the jerk.

Li's teammate Qin Fulin clinched the silver with a total of 302kg and Irawan ranked third at 299kg.

The 2019 Asian weightlifting championships is currently taking place in China's eastern coastal city of Ningbo from April 20 to 28. As many as 278 participants' from 28 nations and regions, including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Iran and the DPR Korea have registered for the competition.