Elreen Ando’s record lifts, Carlo Paalam’s crushing win highlight PH’s prolific day

Southeast Asian Games – Boxing – Chroy Changvar Convention Centre Hall G, Phnom Penh, Cambodia – May 14, 2023 Men’s 54kg category gold medallist Philippines’ Carlo Cano Paalam celebrates during the medal ceremony REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA—Glad that the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games has been stricken off his bucket list, Carlo Paalam is set to live through a bigger undertaking moving forward.

“Next for me is the Asian Games and I have to undergo another process of building up for that tournament,’’ said Paalam in Filipino after securing the boxing gold medal in the men’s 54 kilogram (kg) on Sunday.

The Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on Sept. 25 to Oct. 8 has been penciled as a continental qualifier for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, and Paalam sees this as his gateway for a second straight trip to the quadrennial global sports fest.

“I have to slide to 51 kg. I have done the process before, but it will take a lot of patience and sacrifice on my end,’’ said the Olympic silver medalist in the same weight class in 2021 Tokyo.

Paalam, the 2022 Asian championships winner in the bantamweight division, punished Indonesia’s Aldoms Siguro with pinpoint striking to the head and body to join featherweight Ian Clark Bautista on the gold medal platform.

Record breaker

Elreen Ando demolishes the field, and records, to win the country’s first weightlifting gold medal. —PHILIPPINE OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

Paalam’s triumph immediately came after lifter Elreen Ando rewarded the country its first gold medal of the day in record-breaking fashion.

Ando shattered all existing records in the women’s 59-kg division on the way to victory.

The 24-year-old pride of Cebu City slowly lifted 98 kg, eclipsing the 96-kg standard established by Vietnam’s Hoang Thi Duyen during the Hanoi Games last year.

Ando duplicated the record breaker later on in the clean and jerk with a 118-kg lift, again surpassing Hoang’s 2021 standard in the event at 115.

Team Philippines scooped up nine golds Sunday, bringing its total to 46 that go with 72 silvers and 86 bronzes to now be fifth overall (as of 11 p.m Sunday).

Thailand’s Suratwadee Yodsarn pocketed the silver with 206 total built on her 91 in the snatch and 115 in the clean and jerk while Hoang, last year’s champion, placed third.

“It was some sort of redemption for me. The hard work paid off,’’ said Ando, who got a silver medal in the women’s 64 kg back in Hanoi, Vietnam.

“This is for my father,’’ added the Tokyo Olympian, who dedicated the win to his father who died from liver cancer.

Ando didn’t figure prominently in the Asian championships recently in Jinju, South Korea, where she ended 15th in the 2024 Paris Olympics qualifier. Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo finished fourth in the same weight class.

“I got depressed when I wasn’t able to finish well in the Asian championships. I picked up the pieces and motivated myself again to redeem myself,’’ said Ando.

Confidence booster

“This is a good start in building up my confidence, but the Asian Games is no ordinary tournament,’’ added Paalam, who is expecting the presence of Olympic bronze medalists Ryomei Tanaka of Japan and Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov in his division in the Asiad.

“It has become world-class. Some of the best boxers in my weight class will compete there,’’ added Paalam, who lost to Great Britain’s Galal Yafai in the Tokyo Olympic finals.

Boxers Paul Bascon (men’s lightweight) and Nesthy Petecio (women’s featherweight) followed Paalam atop the gold podium by winning their respective divisions.

Petecio schooled Indonesia’s Ratna Sari Devi on the way to reclaiming the title she won in the 2019 Manila SEA Games.