INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines- With stricter guidelines favoring former medal winners, the Philippine Weightlifting Association is finding it difficult to fill up slots for this year?s Laos Southeast Asian Games.

The PWA is allowed to send nine athletes ? five male and four female athletes - to compete in 15 different categories, according to secretary general Roger Dullano.

So far, PWA has identified three qualified athletes in its roster - Richard Agosto (105 kg), Renante Briones (94 kg), and Hidilyn Diaz (58 kg).

The 17 year-old Diaz, a native of Zamboanga, won two gold medals in the Asian Youth/ Junior Weightlifting in December 2008 and bagged a bronze in the 2007 Thailand SEA Games.

The national weightlifting team currently has 18 members. Dullano said the PWA submitted its lineup last April but still pending approval.

?We?re appealing to include our recommended non-medal athletes in the list of representatives,? he said.

Aside from the lack of qualified number of athletes, the PWA is also weighing its options because the Laos meet this December coincides with the Asian Youth Weightlifting to be held in Pune, India.

The Asian Youth Championship was originally scheduled last May, according to Dullano.

?The PWA is actually giving more weight to the Asian Youth Championship since it is participated by 41 countries in Asia,? he said.

According to Dullano, the Philippines got its most number of medals in weightlifting in the Asian Youth Championship last year with five gold medals, four silvers and three bronzes.