PH lifters to join final Olympic qualifier in Thailand

MANILA – Hidilyn Di az-Nar an j o of Zamboanga City will lead the country's bid for Olympic berths in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup scheduled in Phuket, Thailand from March 31 to April 11.

Joining the 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist in the tournament, which is the final qualifier for the Paris Olympics, are fellow Zamboangueñas Rosegie Ramos (W49kg.) and Kristel Macrohon; Lovely Inan of Angono, Rizal (W49kg.); John Febuar Ceniza (M61kg.); Elreen Ann Ando of Cebu City; and Vanessa Sarno of Bohol .

Macrohon and Sarno are both competing in the W71kg. while DiazNaranjo and Ando are in the W55kg. category.

The athletes, accompanied by Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) president Monico

Puentevella and coaches Antonio Agustin Jr. and Diwa delos Santos (Zamboanga City), Nicolas Jaluag (Bohol), and Christopher Bureros (Cebu City), will leave on March 29.

Based on the IWF Olympic qualifying rankings, Ceniza is 6th; Sarno, 5th; DiazNaranjo, 8th; and Ramos, 9th.

Only the Top 10 lifters will earn a quota place for their respective country and bodyweight category through the IWF Olympic Qualification Ranking tournaments from Aug. 1, 2022 to April 28, 2024.

The World Cup will be the first tournament for Diaz-Naranjo after sustaining a knee injury while competing at the 2023 IWF Grand Prix II in Doha, Qatar.

She skipped last month's Asian Championships where the Philippines bagged two silver

medals courtesy of Ramos and Ando, a bronze medalist at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Gam es.

At the SEA Games, Sarno won the gold medal

in Vietnam (2022) and Cambodia (2023) while Macrohon triumphed in Manila (2019).

Sarno also bagged two medals at the Asian Championships -- a gold

in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (2020) and a silver in Jinju, South Korea (2023).

Ceniza, 25, got the silver medal at the 2023 World Grand Prix II in

Qatar. He registered a total of 298kg. despite finishing fourth in snatch (133kg.) and fifth in the clean and jerk (165kg.). His lifts are new national records.

PROUD CEBUANO. John Febuar Ceniza (left) shows the silver medal he won in the men's 71kg. category of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Grand Prix II in Doha, Qatar on Feb. 6, 2023. Ceniza is eyeing a spot for the Philippine team in the upcoming Paris Olympics in July. With him is national coach Christopher Bureros. (Contributed photo)