PHILIPPINE weightlifting could no longer be all about Hidilyn Diaz after Vanessa Sarno and co. plucked 11 medals—two of them golds—at the recent Asian championships in Tashkent.
The Philippines was the only Southeast Asian country in the tournament that lured 17 nations and with a 2-6-3 gold-silver-bronze haul wound up eighth in the medal tally board dominated by China (27-16-3).
The impressive performance—six countries didn’t land a medal—was a more than enough morale booster for the Filipinos who locked in on their next target: the 31st SEA Asian Games in Hanoi in November.
“My target is to win gold in the SEA Games, but I still want to improve my lift when I return to training in Dawis [Bohol],” said Sarno from their Tashkent hotel room. The team will fly back to Manila on Wednesday, giving the weightlifters and coaches Nick Jaluag and Gary Hortelano enough time to tour the Uzbek capital.
Hidilyn Diaz’s cousin Mary Flor Diaz pocketed three silvers in women’s 45-kg division and Erleen Ando took home two silvers and a bronze in the women’s 64-kg class. Kristel Macrohon, the 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold winner, added two bronze medals in the 76-kg division.
The harvest was more than enough boost for the athletes who are now focused on Hanoi.
“I want to be stronger than I was before.”
Ando, Diaz and Macrohon believe those medals could turn to gold in the 31st SEA Games.
“We’ll be fighting for gold medals in the SEA Games,” Ando said. “We can possibly win the overall championship there for as long as we work hard and cooperate with each other.”
“Credit goes to the kids for believing in themselves and for believing in us,” Jaluag said. “We just have to continue training once we go back to the country.”
Margaret Colonia (59 kgs), Ellen Rose Perez (49 kgs), John Febuar Ceniza (men’s 61 kgs) and John Dexter Tabique (men’s 96 kgs) were also on the team but missed out on the podium.