TOKYO Olympic gold medalist Hidylin Diaz-Naranjo and compatriot Elreen Ann Ando aim to give the country golden glory in weightlifting when they see action today in the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Xiaoshian Sports Center Gymnasium.
To boost their medal hopes, weightlifting chief Monico Puentevella said it was decided that Diaz would compete in the women’s 59kg category while Ando, a gold medalist in the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games last May, returns to her former 64kg weight division.
Between them, Diaz-Naranjo, who won a gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games in the 55kg class in Jakarta, Indonesia, could face an uphill battle to duplicate that feat again should she be up against the same Asian foes she faced in the last world weightlifting championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Hometown bet Luo Shifang was tops in the women’s 59kg category in the Saudi capital with a total lift of 243 kilos. Compatriot and former world champion Pei Xinyi took the bronze (232) while Chinese-Taipei’s Kuo Hsing-chun, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist in the weight class, was fourth (231).
Diaz-Naranjo only had a total lift of 222 kilos in finishing seventh overall at the worlds.
Ando, 21, appears to have a chance at a podium finish assuming she is able to get back in competitive shape in her former weight category where she finished fourth in the 2018 Asian Games with a total lift of 201 kilos.
