Lifter Dessa delos Santos collected three silver medals in the Asian Weightlifting Youth Championships in Tokyo as the Philippines begins the arduous task of shaping fresh talents in the mold of Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz.
Delos Santos, a 17-year-old lifting prodigy from Zamboanga City where Diaz was discovered, placed second in the snatch, clean and jerk and total events of the girls’ 53kg youth category.
The Filipinos bagged three more bronze medals, two courtesy of 15-year-old John Paolo Rivera (boy’s 50kg) from Manila and one from 13-year-old Rosegie Ramos (girls’ 44kg) of Zamboanga City.
Rivera ruled the clean and jerk and total events while Ramos prevailed in the snatch.
A total of 40 countries, including top world contenders China, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Chinese Taipei, are competing in the week-long tournament.
“All the big guns in the world are here with one purpose,” said Philippine Weightlifting Association president Monico Puentevella. “Like us, they’re also preparing for the 2020 Olympics.”
Also seeking to capture medals in the meet are Rowell Garcia, Clark Cuico, Leonida Cambarijan, Mary Flor Diaz, Elien Rose Perez, Jane Hipolito, Rene Lao, Elreen Ando, Elbert Atilano Jr., John Ceniza, Margaret Colonia and Kristel Macrohon.
The PWA was the driving force behind Diaz for more than a decade before she finally ended the country’s medal shortage in the recent Rio De Janeiro Olympics with a silver medal.