NEW DELHI, Oct 9 Faavae Faauliuli won Samoa's first Commonwealth Games gold medal on Saturday when he clinched the men's 94kg weightlifting title.

The Pacific island was expected to break its gold drought in Delhi, but it was expected to happen on Sunday when Commonwealth record-holder Ele Opeloge and her brother Niusila compete, also in weightlifting.

The 27-year-old Faauliuli, who had been in third place after the snatch section of the final, succeeded on a second attempt at 192kg in the clean and jerk to see off Scotland's Peter Kirkbride, who had lifts of 144kg and 189kg, by a kilo with a winning total of 334.

Despite finishing in the silver medal position, 22-year-old Kirkbride's performance was a marked improvement on his Games debut in Melbourne in 2006 where he was sixth in the 85kg class.

Benedict Uloko of Nigeria won bronze with a 332kg total, one kilo behind Kirkbride.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Shujauddin Malik, the 85kg gold medal winner in 2006, failed to register a lift after injuring his shoulder when failing on a snatch of 140kg.

Nigeria's Okoli Chukwuka was leading after the snatch, thanks to his 145kg lift, but managed to clean and jerk only 170kg in his first attempt before dropping his second two attempts and finished on 315kg.

Pre-tournament favourite Nick Roberts of Canada finished out of the medals with a 316kg total.—AFP