ATHENS, Sept. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Metwaly Mathna of Egypt seeks his second consecutive gold medal in the men's 67.5kg category of the Paralympic powerlifting competition.

    The 41-year-old athlete won the 60kg category in Sydney, while he placed second in Atlanta. He holds the world records in both the 60 and the 67.5kg categories.

    His main opponent will be Iran's Hamzeh Mohammadi who is making his Paralympic Games debut in Athens.

    World champion Alexsander Whitaker of Brazil and China's Wu Maoshun are also strong contenders.

    For the women's 60kg class, China's Fu Taoying may provide a world record performance. FESPIC Games champion of 56kg in 1999 and 60kg in 2002, she won the gold medal of the 56kg class at Sydney. She went a category up and now holds the world record in the 60kg.

    Lyudmyla Osmanova of Ukraine, third in Sydney, will compete for a medal, while Khadija Acem of Morocco represents one of her country's biggest hopes for a medal.

    In the women's 67.5kg category Victoria Amoge Nneji of Nigeria will try to repeat her Sydney triumph, where she won the 60kg class. But her mission will be difficult as young Egyptian Heba Ahmed seems to have more chances to win the gold medal.

    Another strong contender is 36-year-old Chinese teacher Zhang Liking from east China's Jiangxi Province, who won in last year's World Wheelchair Games.

    The competition schedule for Friday, September 24, is as follows:

    13:00, men's 67.5kg Group B

    13:45, men's 67.5kg Group A

    16:30, women's 60kg Group A

    17:15, women's 67.5kg Group A Enditem