Hidilyn, Cray settle for silver medals
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan – Olympian weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz added another medal to her treasure chest after bagging the silver medal in the 53kg category in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games at the Ashgabat Olympic Complex here last Tuesday.
Diaz, who also won silver in a different weight class at the 2016 Rio Games, garnered a total of 204 points to place second behind upcoming Liao Qiuyun of China, who totaled 208 from the combined points in snatch, and clean and jerk.
Hometown bet Kristina Skermetova took the bronze with 196 points.
Fil-Am Eric Shaun Cray also shared the limelight when he finished second in the 60-meter run at the Indoor Athletics Arena.
Cray, the 28-year-old reigning Asian Athletics titlist in 400m, clocked in at 6.63 seconds to settle behind the 6.55second time of reigning champion Hassan Taftian of Iran. Reza Ghasemi, also from Iran, got the bronze (6.64sec).
Long jumper Janry Ubas, however, was not unfortunate after finishing fourth (7.40m) behind champion Nguyen Tien Trong of Vietnam (7.48m), India’s Amila Wijayalath Pedige (7.45m) and Chan Ming Tai of Hong Kong (7.44m).
In taekwondo, Kristie Elaine Alora and Kristopher Robert Uy clinched bronze medals after losing in the semifinals.
Alora bowed to Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Osipova, 16-8, while Uy succumbed to China’s Liu Jintao, 27-10.
Diaz was already behind Liao’s 93 points in snatch after scoring only 90 kilos. The two started the clean and jerk event with similar weights of 110 kilos.
The 26-year-old native of Zamboanga City added four more kilos on her second attempt but failed to complete the lift. She finally did complete carrying 114 kilos despite struggling to lift the barbell on her third and final attempt.
“Kaya ko pa pala,” said Diaz right after the awarding ceremony, recounting her difficulties to return to competitive form after her Rio stint.
Prior to the AIMAG competitions, Diaz – one of the athletes who enjoy the full support of the MVP Sports Foundation and Meralco – confessed that she is in top shape although her main concern was the mental aspect.
With her recent feat, Diaz said she is excited to resume her campaigns particularly in the Weightlifting World Championship in November in Anaheim, California.
“Sabi ko nga ayoko na, gusto ko na mag-give up kasi nahirapan ako magdisciplina,” said Diaz. “Pero hindi din ako nag-give up… kaya ko pala, napatunayan ko na kaya ko pa, wala sa age.”