Hidilyn Diaz dusts off Thai challenge to remain powerlifting queen

HANOI—There was a brief moment when everyone held their breath in a packed Hanoi Sports Palace. In a battle of Olympic champions, Thailand’s Sanikun Tanasan built a slight early lead in the women’s weightlifting final of the 31st Southeast Asian Games.

The only one not nervous?

Hidilyn Diaz.

“I was very confident because we have been studying my opponent so we know he is strong in the snatch but not in the clean and jerk,” the country’s first and only Olympic gold medalist said on Friday.

Tanasan, the gold winner at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, carried the heaviest weight in the snatch, lifting 93 kilograms to Diaz’s 92. But when the clean and jerk came, Diaz proved that she was still the queen of the 55kg weight class by lifting 114kg to win the gold medal with a total of 206kg.

It wasn’t the same spectacle Diaz put on at the Tokyo Olympics, but it was enough to propel the 31-year-old champion’s journey to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“For me it’s ok. I’m happy to get back to training and, you know, to compete again,” Diaz said.

“I always want to give my best; she is an Olympian [gold] medalist and we had to design a strategy for everything”, he added.

Tanasan, who won the 48kg crown in Brazil but moved up to a heavier division to chase Diaz, lifted 104 and 110 in the clean and jerk. He finished with a silver, 3 kg short of first prize.

Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella said that even as the federation has lined up potential heirs, Diaz “will continue to be the heart and soul of Philippine weightlifting.”

And there is hope that Diaz’s gold will bring life back to a Philippine campaign that has slowed in recent days. Team Philippines has its sights set on a third or fourth place in the overall standings, even as it dropped to fifth place as of 7pm on Friday.

The country only has 43 gold medals to display along with 57 silver and 80 bronze. Host Vietnam has an unbeatable tally of 158-95-91. Thailand is second (65-72-102), Singapore third (47-44-62) and Indonesia fourth (46-66-59).

“We still have a lot [of golds to expect,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino. “Singapore has no more.”

“If we all work hard as one, we will win as one,” said commissioner Mon Fernandez of the Philippine Sports Commission, who has been diligently attending to the athletes’ in his capacity as chef de mission. “This is not the time for us to be discouraged since reclaiming No. 3 is still very much possible.”

Friday’s golds came in trickles, but they helped nonetheless.

Sibol crushed Indonesia, 3-1, in Mobile Legends (ML): Bang Bang for the country’s second crown in esports. The Philippines, which won three gold medals in 2019, also ruled the women’s Wild Rift.

The ML champion team, composed of Danerie del Rosario, Kyle Soto, Salic Imam, Jonmar Villaluna, Russel Usi, Lee Gonzales and Dexter Alaba, took Friday’s first gold for Team Philippines at National Convention Center.

In the late afternoon at Hoai Duc Gymnasium, Shugen Nakano defended his men’s 66kg title for the country’s third gold medal of the day.

Nakano was almost robbed of the gold as the referee failed to stop the fight even after time had ran out. At that moment, Nakano, leading 1-0, was in an arm-lock by Hoang Phuc Troung of Vietnam.

“Had we not reacted, the referee wouldn’t have called it. Maybe he was waiting for our boy to tap out which he didn’t do. Shugen just endured it up until the match was called,” said Philippine Judo Association president Dave Carter.

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