May 8 ------ HIDILYN Diaz and Elreen Ando fell short of a podium finish in the women's 59kg event at the 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championships at the Jinju Arena in Jinju, South Korea on Sunday.
Diaz, a Tokyo Olympics gold medalist in the 55kg category, finished fourth with a total lift of 221kg while Ando was a Did Not Finish (DNF) as she was unable to tally a good lift in the clean and jerk. Shifang Luo and Xinyi Pei tallied a one-two finish for China while reigning Olympic champion Hsing-Chun Kuo of Chinese Taipei ended up third. Luo and Pei lifted a total of 238kg and 236kg, respectively, while Kuo totaled 230kg. In snatch, the defending Olympics champion achieved all good lifts on her three attempts, with a best lift of 99kg, placing fourth.
Ando, who competed in the heavier 64kg event in the Tokyo Games, also lifted 99kg. But the Olympian failed to get a good lift in her second attempt at 98kg before attempting at 99kg, thus falling behind Diaz in the standings for snatch.
Luo had a best lift of 105kg in the snatch which compatriot Pei failed to surpass as she failed at 106kg in her final attempt in the snatch. She settled for the silver with 103kg. Kuo took the bronze with 102kg to get the final place in the snatch podium.
In the clean and jerk, Pei and Luo tallied similar bests of 133kg, while Kuo only had one good lift at 128kg - still good enough for bronze. There, Diaz finished in fifth as she failed to lift 125kg in her last attempt and settled for her second attempt at 122kg as her best result. Ando was unable to get a successful lift in the clean and jerk.
The Asian Championships is one of the events that athletes can participate in to be eligible for a spot in the Olympics by virtue of the quota places.
Diaz and Ando are both competing in a different weight class from their Olympic bids. In 2021, Diaz competed in the 55kg category, where she won gold. Ando, for her part, participated in the 64kg event.
Source: spin.ph
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