The Philippine weightlifting team started off on the wrong foot after Rosegie Ramos and Lovely Inan failed to make it into the top three of the women’s 49-kilogram division of the International Weightlifting Federation World Championships in Riyadh Tuesday evening (Manila time).
Ramos, a Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist, placed seventh after a snatch of 86kgs and a clean-and-jerk effort of 102kgs for a total lift of 188kgs.
Despite not breaking into the top three, the 19-year-old pride of Zamboanga City did better this time compared to her debut in the tournament as she was in 17th place last year in Bogota, doing 75kgs in the snatch, 95kgs in the clean-and-jerk for a total lift of 170kgs.
Inan, on the other hand, had a forgettable debut as she did not have a total lift after failing to complete a snatch lift of 80kgs.
The 18-year-old weightlifter from Angono, Rizal was able to lift 106kgs but no total lift was tallied.
China completed a 1-2 finish in the category after Huihua Jiang lifted a total of 215 kgs for the gold and Zhihui Hou tallied 211 kgs for the silver.
Jourdan dela Cruz of the United States came in third place with a total lift of 200 kgs.
Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella remains patient with the national team as this tournament serves as a where lifters can earn qualifying points for the 2024 Paris Olympics as the Philippines fields seven weightlifters.
“I hope one of them will make it to Paris next year. The more, the better,” Puentevella said.
SEA Games bronze medalist John Ceniza competing in the men’s 61kg event as of press time.
Meanwhile, Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz and SEA Games gold medalist Elreen Ando will duke it out in the women’s 59kg event at 12 midnight (Manila time).
Vanessa Sarno and Kristel Macrohon will be fighting in the women’s 71kg on 13 September.
