Pinoy lifters win 4 golds, 5 silvers and 3 bronzes
Young Filipino weightlifters conquered Bali, Indonesia wherein they garnered 4 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals in the just-concluded Indonesia Youth Weightlifting Championships.
Vanessa Serrano, 14, of Bohol garnered 3 gold medals while Zamboanga City’s Rosegie Ramos has a gold and a pair of silvers. Linette Hipolito, also of Zamboanga, took home 3 silver medals, and Paolo Rivera of Metro Manila earned 3 bronze medals.
For Samahang Weighlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella, this is the future of Philippine weightlifting.
“We’ll train them to join the Sea Games in 2019 and hopefully also for Olympics 2020. This is how Hidilyn Diaz also started,” he said.
Meanwhile, Puentevella said that they will have seven entries in the upcoming 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia this August.
Leading the national team are Nestor Colonia, Hidilyn Diaz and Kristel Macrohon.
The 26-year-old Colonia is a 2016 Olympic qualifier, a 2015 Asian Championships winner, and third placer in the 2015 World and 2016 Asian Championships.
Aside from winning the Olympic silver medal two years ago and ending the 20-year medal drought of the country, the 27-year-old Diaz was the youngest competitor in the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also won the bronze medal during the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand and place 10th at the 2006 Asian Games.
On the other hand, Macrohan finished fifth place in Asian Championships and Asian Cup last year, and won a bronze medal in the 4th Qatar International Cup.
Puentevella reiterated that despite having lesser entries in the Asiad, they are optimistic of making good in the competition./JSG, WDJ
