Three national weightlifting records fall

DUMAGUETE CITY—Three weight-lifters led by Olympic hopeful Hidilyn Diaz broke national records yesterday as the favorites continued their show of might in the POC-PSC National Games here.

The 21-year-old Diaz, still in the running to make it to her second straight Olympics as a wild card entry in London this July, was unchallenged in the women’s 58-kg division with record lifts of 96kg in the snatch, 123kg in the clean and jerk and 219 total.

She smashed her own marks of 95-122-217 she established just last April 28 in the Korean Open.

Maybelyn Pablo of Zamboanga and Angelica Lado of Cebu City also rewrote their own marks in the Games organized by the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Pablo lifted 83-101-184 to break the 75-98-173 marks in the women’s 75-kg division, while Lado erased her 77-95-172 with her 81-107-188 effort in the over 75-kg competition held at the Lamberto Macias Coliseum.

Long jump queen Marestella Torres, gearing up for the London Olympics, also flashed overpowering form with leaps of 6.51 meters and 6.58m at the Perdices Sports Complex, although they were still far from her own national recod of 6.71m.

“I’m 80 percent ready, I think I can still surpass my personal best. But I have to be very careful not to get injured,” said Torres, who was a mandatory entry in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “This is part of my preparation for the Olympics.”

“I know inside me that I can still do better,” said Diaz, who is banking on her impressive showing the past months, including a fourth-place finish in the Asian Championship, to crash the PH Olympic roster.

Diaz dropped from school two years ago to concentrate on qualifying for London. Officials said her Olympic bid now depends on the new ranking that the international weightlifting federation will release next month.

PH Davis Cupper Elbert Anasta had an easy time snaring the men’s singles tennis gold medal at the Capitol grounds when Johnny Arcilla gave up after spraining his left ankle with the score tied at 5-5, 15-all in the first set.

In the host city’s favorite sport of archery,  home town bet Marie Crizabelle Merto was right on target in women’s open recurve with 647 points to easily win the gold.

Now 31, Torres, the 2009 Asian long jump champion, was unchallenged by heir apparent Katherine Santos, the 21-year-old stunner  from Baguio, who had earlier won the women’s 100-meter dash and triple jump. Santos was a far second this time with  6.19m.