Cebuana lifter snatches bronze

HANGZHOU – Weightlifter Elreen Ando delivered a bronze medal just as the day was about to end, averting what could have been a medal-less Monday for Team Philippines in the 19th Asian Games here.

Ando, fourth placer in the 2018 Asiad in Indonesia and seventh in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, gave members of the Philippine delegation a sigh of relief with her impressive total lift of 222kg.

The 24-year-old from Cebu clenched her fists after securing her first Asian Games medal with a 126kg in the clean and jerk. She had 96kg on her third and last attempt in the snatch.

“Nalungkot talaga ako noong nag-zero ako sa Asian Championships. Nawala ang lungkot at napalitan ng saya dahil sa medalya na ito,’’ said Ando, who missed the podium in the Asian meet earlier this year.

Ando was so ecstatic with her bronze, and the P400,000 in cash incentives that will go with it.

“Gusto kong bigyan ng reward at birthday gift ang sarili ko dahil matagal ko na gustong magkabahay,” said the lifter who will turn 25 on Nov. 1.

North Korea’s Rim Unsim pocketed the gold with 111-140-251kg (all Asian Games records) while Pei Xinyi of China settled for the silver with 104-130-234kg before a boisterous crowd that also witnessed Tokyo Games gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo finish fourth in the women’s 59kg.

Team Philippines snatched its eighth bronze medal in the Games, counting those from poomsae, wushu, tennis and BMX racing, to go with one gold and one silver courtesy of pole vaulter EJ Obiena and wushu’s Arnel Mandal. Slowly but surely, the Filipinos are moving up the tally.

Gilas back in business

For Gilas Pilipinas, it’s one down then the toughest ones to go.

Gilas earlier demolished Qatar, 80-41, and won a game it couldn’t afford to lose in a scary uphill battle in men’s basketball of the biggest Asian Games in history.

The Nationals had to win the game to stay alive following a stunning 25-point loss to Jordan the other day. With the one-sided result, they advanced to the quarterfinals of the sport dearest to Filipinos.

Whether it was a one-point win or a 39-point blowout, what’s important was that Gilas made it to the next round – safe and sound.

“We had a script in which we wanted to have to win this basketball game and we followed that script very well,” said Gilas coach Tim Cone.

“We wanted to get off quick and get a lead so we could bring Justin (Brownlee) out of the game and get him ready for tomorrow against Iran. That was our main goal and we were able to do that. It was almost like a practice for us,” he added.

Up next for Gilas is an old, formidable foe – an Iranian side minus the 7-foot-2 Hamed Haddadi, a three-time FIBA Asia Cup champion, NBA veteran and regarded as the greatest Iranian basketball player who ever lived. He retired this year.

But with or without Haddadi, now 38, Iran will be a team that can beat a Philippine squad anytime, anywhere.

The showdown is set at high noon at the Zhejiang University Gymnasium, barely 18 hours after the game against Qatar.

Losing to Jordan last Saturday meant Gilas had to play Qatar, then Iran, then either China or South Korea three days in a row, and with millions of fingers crossed back home, probably Jordan in the final.

Calvin Oftana pulled the trigger for the Gilas onslaught, hitting three triples in the opening quarter which ended at 33-14.

The Nationals broke the Qataris’ backs early. They enjoyed their biggest lead at 43 points, 73-30, with the big guns sitting on the bench. Brownlee saw action for only eight minutes, reserving his energy for the game against Iran.

Hidilyn comes up short

Gilas’ win was the highlight of the day early on for Team Philippines, with Diaz finishing fourth in her class.

Diaz competed in a weight category four kilos heavier than the one she ruled in Tokyo. But she gave her all in what she erroneously described as “training,” trying her battle-scarred hands at something she’d never tried before.

As day turned into night, Team Philippines stood still with one gold, one silver and seven bronze medals. There was hope of John Tolentino landing a medal in men’s 110m hurdles at the 80,800-seat main stadium.

In the snatch, Diaz cleared 94kg then 97kg before failing at 100kg. In the clean and jerk, she was successful at 121kg and 126kg but couldn’t lift 131kg for a total of 223kg.

North Korean Kim Ilgyong, at 20 years old, broke all existing records on her way to the gold with a 246 total (111 in snatch and 135 in clean and jerk). The Chinese crowd applauded as the venue announcer declared her effort as a new world record, new Asian record and new Asian Games record.

China’s Luo Shifang won the silver (107-133-240) and Taipei’s Kuo Hsing Chun the bronze (101-126-227).

If this were the Olympics, then Diaz was just four kilos short of the bronze.

But Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) president Monico Puentevella wasn’t bothered at all because he doesn’t expect to see the North Korean in Paris for her refusal to undergo dope tests here.

“Pinayagan lang sila (North Koreans) dito ng China. Pero sa Olympics, hindi pwede ‘yan so kalimutan mo yan North Korean na ‘yan. China at Taipei ang binantayan natin dito. May pag-asa pa din tayo mag-medal sa Paris,” said Puentevella.

“Remember this is the 59kg. It was not even necessary for her (Diaz) to be here because this is not a qualifier for Paris. One year pa before the Olympics. So, she needs to qualify and then work on her body weight. So, okay lang,” Puentevella added.

“Gusto ko lang talaga sumali dito para ipakita na malakas pa ako kahit three weeks to prepare kasi may IWF Championships kami last month,” she said.

“So far so good sa 59kg. Nakita niyo naman nag-try ako sa 100 and 131. Ganoon na pala ako kalakas. Malapit na ako sa Top 5 sa 59,” added Diaz, now 32, who looked forward to two more tournaments needed for her to make it to Paris – the IWF World Cup in Qatar in December and another IWF World Cup in Thailand in April.

“Ang lalakas ng mga kalaban dito pero masaya pa din ako. At the end of the day, Paris 2024 pa din ang importante. So, patuloy ang ensayo para mag-qualify at manalo sa Paris,” she said.

“I’m happy with today’s training,” Diaz said with a smile. Looking forward, she expects lifters from China, Chinese-Taipei, Ukraine, Colombia and Canada to vie for the medals in Paris.

And of course, herself.

Hoffman, Brown make 400m hurdles final

In the centerpiece world of athletics, Fil-Americans Lauren Hoffman and Robyn Brown qualified to the final of the women’s 400m hurdles scheduled tonight while Kristina Knott landed sixth in the 200m final with a time of 23.79 seconds.

John Tolentino was in the middle of the action in the men’s 110m hurdles but couldn’t get to the podium, finishing fourth with a time of 13.62 seconds behind the top finishers from Kuwait, Japan and China.

Fil-American Eric Cray, the eight-time gold medalist in the SEA Games, pushed his luck but failed to qualify in the final of his favorite 400m hurdles, finishing fifth in Heat 3 with a time of 50.24 seconds, and off his winning time of 50.03 in this year’s Cambodia SEA Games.

Cray made it to the final of the event during the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games and finished sixth and seventh, respectively. This time, he couldn’t book a ticket, bothered by the groin injury that kept him out of the Tokyo Olympics and this year’s Asian Indoor Championships in Kazakhstan.

Cray is just unbeatable in the event in the SEA Games, winning the gold medal in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023. His other golds in the biennial event came in the men’s 100m in Singapore in 2015 and the 400 x 100 relay back home in 2019.

But at 34 and with a recurring injury, it may be safe to say that Cray has bid the Asian Games goodbye.