Yesterday Rahmat Erwin won gold for Indonesia and set a clean and jerk world record at 73 kilograms.

Tonight, Erwin looked likely to lose his other world record, the 81kg clean and jerk, when Ri Chongsong from North Korea had two attempts to better it.

 Ri had already won gold with an Asian Games record total of 364kg after four good lifts.

 On his fifth attempt at 210kg he got the bar above his head, but he could not hold it steady and dropped it.

He came out for another try two minutes later and barely got the bar off the floor before falling backwards.

It meant that Erwin’s 209kg, set less than a month ago at the World Championships in Riyadh, remains in the record books.

Three North Korean women have set world records here, but its men have not achieved any, and have only one more chance when Ro Kwangryol lifts in an ultra-competitive 96kg contest tomorrow.

 The 81kg silver went to Mukhammadkodir Toshtemirov from Uzbekistan and there was a battle for bronze between team-mates from Kazakhstan, Alexandr Uvarov and Yelaman Seitkazy.

Uvarov made it on to the podium with his last lift at 194kg.

“I had to make it, and, in my mind, I knew I could do it,” he said.

“We are best friends but we both want to win when we are on the platform.”