PHNOM PENH. – Cebuano lifter Dexter Tabique had difficulty going down in weight, but his move to compete in the men’s 89kg class gave him three new Philippine records and a bronze-medal finish Tuesday in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games weightlifting meet at the Olympic Stadium here.
Tabique, 22, who went down from 102kg to the 89kg division, lifted 140 in the snatch and 170 in the clean and jerk for a total of 310 to erase all the three Philippine marks set by John Kevin Padullo last year.
Padullo lifted 125, 170, and total of 295 in the biennial meet in Hanoi but did not earn a medal.
Quoc Toan Nguyen of Vietnam claimed the gold medal with lifts 115-190-345, setting three new games records. Muhammad Zul Ilmi of Malaysia was second with a total lift of 328.
May kaba po ako. Pero hindi ako nagpadala sa emosyon,” said Tabique.
National coach Tony Agustin said Tabique met his goals when he competed in the 89kg class for the first time.
“Ang goal namin ay mailagay siya sa medal position sa first competition niya, at sa bagong weight class niya. Nagawa namin iyun. Galing siya sa 102, at nag-aadjust pa,” said Agustin.
Kristel Macrohon earlier settled for fourth with lifts of 101 and 120, for a total of 221 in the women’s +71 kg. class.
Duangkasorn Chaidee of Thailand took the gold with a total lift of 270, with Nukmul Akmal of Indonesia placing second (263), and Si Ro Pha of Vietnam third (246).
Vanessa Sarno (-71kgs) and Elreen Ando (-59kg) delivered two golds for the Philippines, which also had four silvers, courtesy of Angeline Colonia (women’s 45 kg), Lovely Inan (women’s 49 kg), John Febuar Ceniza (men’s 61 kg) and Rosalinda Faustino (women’s 55 kg).
