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Here's why Hidilyn Diaz is skipping Cambodia SEA Games


May 7 ------ PHILIPPINE weightlifting darling Hidilyn Diaz will be missing in action at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. But it isn't just for any small reason.


Diaz is foregoing the biennial showpiece in the hope of qualifying for her fifth Olympic Games, opting to focus on the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Jinju, Korea which serves as one of the qualifying events for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Unfortunately, the schedule of the Korea showcase is so close to the weightlifting competitions in Cambodia. Hostilities in Jinju is set from May 5 to 13, while the SEA Games' weightlifting events were slated May 13 to 16. While some lifters like Vanessa Sarno and Elreen Ando opted to do double-duty, Diaz is not as keen on pushing her body to the limit at 32.


In Korea, she will also be tested by some of the best of the world in her new weight class, among them Olympic champion Kuo Hsing-chun of Chinese Taipei, Turkmenistan's Polina Guryeva, and Mikiko Ando of Japan. Diaz is moving up one weight class after the 55kg division that she ruled at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 was scratched by Paris organizers. She ended up joining compatriot Ando in the same weight class.


Sarno is leading the Philippines' hunt for medals at the Cambodia SEA Games, but admits feeling the weight of expectations as Diaz's heir apparent. "Nape-pressure po ako, pero mas namo-motivate ako lalo na galingan ko." said Sarno.


Apart from Sarno, Ando, Kristel Macrohon, Angeline Colonia, Lovely Inan, Rosalinda Faustino, John Febuar Ceniza, Dave Lloyd Pacaldo, and John Dexter Tabique will be competing in weightlifting events in Cambodia.


Source: spin.ph

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