By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Filipina weightlifter Vanessa Sarno captured three medals, including two golds, during the Asian Weightlifting Championship on Wednesday evening at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The Bohol-native Sarno clinched a gold in the overall women’s 71-kilogram division event after tallying a 229 kilograms, besting Gulnabat Kadyrova of Turkmenistan and Yekaterina Bykova of Kazakhastan.

Sarno, a former Asian junior champion, notched her second gold medal in the clean and jerk with a lift of 128 kilograms before settling for silver medal in the snatch with her 101-kg lift.

It was another impressive effort for Sarno, who swept all three gold in the online World Youth Championship in November last year, but this feat is not enough for her to qualify to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“She’s new, first Asian for her. World junior champion, asian junior champion, and now Asian champion. Successor to Hidilyn (Diaz),” said Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) president Monico Puentevella.

Elreen Ando, meanwhile, settled for silver medal in the women’s 64-kilogram division as she lifted a total of 213 kilograms, behind gold medal winner Chen Wen Huei, who had a total of 228 kilograms.

The 22-year-old Ando also captured the silver medal in the clean and jerk with 119-kg, with Chen topping the event with a 128-kg before the Filipina settled for bronze medal in snatch with 94-kg.

Meanwhile, Margaret Colonia failed to contribute to the country’s medal haul in the competition as she finished seventh in the women’s 59-kg division with 176 points in the total lifts.

The Philippines now has a total of five silvers and one bronze in the Asian weightlifting meet. Mary Flor Diaz delivered the three other silver medals for the delegation in the women’s 45-kg division.

Hidilyn Diaz also competed in the meet but settled for fourth place in the women’s 55-kg event. Her participation, however, netted her fourth consecutive Olympics qualification./ASC, WDJ