Elreen Ando sustains form with two silvers at Asian championships

FILE–The Philippines’ Elreen Ann Ando competes in the women’s 64kg group A weightlifting competition during the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, in China’s eastern Zhejiang province on October 2, 2023. (Photo by Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines–Elreen Ando bagged a pair of silver medals at the ongoing Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, sustaining an impressive performance that began with a bronze medal in the Asian Games last year.

Ando, the Tokyo Olympian, lifted 120 kilograms in the clean and jerk, bolstering her total to 213kg in placing second in both events in the women’s 59kg category.

Kim Il-Gyong of North Korea clinched the gold with a 225kg total and Natasya Beteyob of Indonesia claimed the bronze (212kg).

It likewise strengthened Ando’s bid to make it to the 2024 Olympics in Paris this July with one tournament left before the qualification rankings are finalized.

The Paris qualifiers in Ando’s weight class will be determined after the 2024 International Weightlifting Federation World Cup on April 2-11 in Phuket, Thailand.

Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo also belongs to the same weight category in a stiff battle with Ando for that lone spot representing the country in the French capital. Diaz-Naranjo is ahead of Ando in the Olympic rankings.

Only the top 10 in each of the weight categories will qualify outright to the Paris Games on July 26-August 11.