PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cebuano lifter Dexter Tabique had difficulty going down in weight, but his move to compete in the men’s 89-kg class yielded him three new Philippine records and a bronze-medal finish on Tuesday in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games weightlifting meet at the Olympic Stadium here.
The 22-year-old Tabique, who went down from the 102 to the 89-kg division, lifted 140 in the snatch, 170 in the clean and jerk, and totaled 310 to erase all the three Philippine marks set by John Kevin Padullo last year.
Padullo lifted a 125, a 170, and totaled 295 in the biennial meet in Hanoi, but did not earn a medal.
Quoc Toan Nguyen of Vietnam claimed the gold medal with his heaves of 115-190-345, to set 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 of his performance.
National coach Tony Agustin said Tabique has met his goals when he competed in the 89-kg 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.
Meanwhile, 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 after totalling 270, with Nukmul Akmal of Indonesia placing second (263), and Si Ro Pha of Vietnam in third (246).
Vanessa Sarno (-71kgs) and Elreen Ando (-59kg) delivered the 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).
