Hidilyn Diaz eyes podium finish in world weightlifting tiff

MANILA, Philippines – Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz will attempt to duplicate, if not surpass, her bronze medal finish in the last two editions of the International Weightlifting Federation World Championships as she competes in the 55-kilogram division Friday in Pattaya, Thailand.

Diaz, 28, came through with a bronze-medal performance in each of the last two editions of the biennial competition in Houston in 2015 and Anaheim in 2017 and she hopes to continue the tradition and possibly improve on it this time around.

“We’ve been here for several days now and we’re optimistic of our chances,” Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella, who attended the IWF World Congress Tuesday also in Pattaya, told The STAR Thursday.

Meanwhile, Hidilyn's first cousin, Mary Flor Diaz, was the first to plunge into action in the women’s 45-kg class and finished a respectable seventh overall out of 18 participants with a snatch and clean and jerk total of 156 Wednesday.

Interestingly, Diaz was only the fourth best Southeast Asian in her division behind eventual bronze medal winner Lisa Setiawati of Indonesia with 165, and Vietnamese Vuo Thai Huyen (164) and Khong My Phuong (161).

Nestor Colonia, a bronze medal winner here four years ago in Houston and a 2015 Asian Championship golden bot in Phuket, Thailand, was seeing action in the men’s 67kg at press time.

A total of 10 Filipinos were entered in this 10-day meet that is being used as part of the national team’s preparation for the 30th Southeast Asian Games set late this year at the Rizal Memorial Colisuem.

Elien Rose Perez (49kg), Margaret Colonia (59kg), Elreen Ann Ando (64kg), Kristel Macrohon (71kg), John Fabuar Ceniza (55kg), Dave Lloyd Pacaldo (61kg) and Jeff Garcia (73kg) with and Chinese Kaiwan Gao as head coach and Ramon Solis and Greg Colonia as the local assistants.