WEIGHTLIFTER Andrew Griffiths came away from the Commonwealth Games under no illusion as to the chink in his armour.

The Newton-le-Willows-born star delivered personal best lifts on Team England debut, setting new PBs of 159kg in the snatch and 187 in the clean & jerk.

His total was only enough for sixth place, however, with Griffiths aware that he needs to improve the latter to reach the rostrum.

He said: “I can’t really complain too much, maybe the standard was a little bit out of my reach today.

“I had two weeks of solid preparation and felt strong and that showed on the platform.

“I do love the snatch - that’s my lift as I always say. It was a personal best by three kilos, and I probably could have done another three kilos as well.

“Last year I got up to a total of 355 so if I’d got that last clean and jerk, I could have been on the podium. It’s disappointing but I’ve got to keep working away.

“I’ve got to improve my clean and jerk, I was right up there in the snatch, but if I can get up towards 200 then I’ll be right in the medal zone for the next one.”

The home team have excelled in weightlifting in Birmingham with Chris Murray winning the nation’s first men’s gold in decades, Sarah Davies also taking top spot and Fraer Morrow collecting bronze.

Griffiths has been sharing a flat in the Athletes’ Village with Murray, relishing his room-mate’s run to gold.

It will surely inspire the 29-year-old to greater glories with the World and European Championships his next targets.

He said: “To see Chris perform like he did in that atmosphere was amazing. As a team we’ve performed well.”

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