Elreen Ann Ando (Picture by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP)
Elreen Ann Ando is bracing for a formidable problem within the Asian Weightlifting Championship the place her hardest foe received’t be from one other nation.
Ando is headed for a showdown with Olympic gold medalist and compatriot Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo.
The match, scheduled Might 3 to 13 in Jinji, South Korea, is without doubt one of the competitions that may function qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
And just one ticket is at stake per weight class.
“After all, I need to return to the Olympics and it could be a dream come true if I might win a medal there,’’ Ando, who wore the nationwide colours within the Olympics within the Tokyo 2021 version, stated in Filipino.
The collision course between the 2 Philippine bets turned inevitable the second weight classes had been decreased for the Paris Video games.
Diaz-Naranjo received the gold within the 55-kilogram (kg) class whereas Ando completed seventh within the ladies’s 64 kg. Each weight divisions had been abolished for Paris and Diaz-Naranjo opted to maneuver up in weight whereas Ando selected to maneuver down—with the 2 Filipinos ultimately touchdown at 59 kg.
First conflict
The Asian championships is definitely the primary amongst a sequence of clashes between Ando and Diaz-Naranjo in a race to the French capital.
“I do know it could be exhausting, however I simply carry on coaching and I hope I might make it,’’ stated Ando, who might face Diaz-Naranjo in 4 Olympic qualification tournaments of their qualifying buildup to France.
Proper after her face-off with Diaz-Naranjo in South Korea, the 24-year-old from Cebu will instantly pack her baggage and fly to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the subsequent day the place she is going to spearhead the weightlifting group within the thirty second Southeast Asian (SEA) Video games.
Ando, who claimed a silver medal within the 64-kg class on the Vietnam SEA Video games final yr, will see motion on the 59-kg class this time. Diaz-Naranjo will skip the Cambodia meet as she intends to construct up on mass and energy as she focuses on Olympic qualification tournaments.
Diaz-Naranjo and Ando want to complete within the high eight in 4 of the 5 Olympic qualifying tournaments. The upper finisher between the 2 Filipinos will e book the lone outright ticket to Paris.
Obligatory occasion
“Individuals are telling me that I can do it. I imagine so. It offers me inspiration. I’ve to compete in 4 extra Olympic qualifiers out of the 5. It needs to be high quality over amount and I have to research my choices,’’ stated Diaz-Naranjo.
Ando and Diaz-Naranjo might once more meet within the 2023 Worldwide Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September.
One other obligatory occasion for the 2 lifters is the 2024 IWF World Cup on April 2 to 11 subsequent yr in Phuket, Thailand.
Diaz-Naranjo lifted a complete of 224 kgs in Tokyo, an Olympic report, whereas Ando lifted 222 kgs in her weight class.
Additionally becoming a member of the lifting squad to Cambodia are defending champion Vanessa Sarno (ladies’s 71 kg), Kristel Macrohon (ladies’s +71 kg), Angeline Colonia (ladies’s 45 kg), Beautiful Inan (ladies’s 49 kg), Rosalinda Faustino (ladies’s 55 kg), John Febuar Ceniza (males’s 61 kg), Dave Llyod Pacaldo (males’s 67 kg) and John Dexter Tabique (males’s 89 kg).
“I believe we’ll be advantageous in Cambodia. We’re eyeing 2 to three gold medals,’’ stated Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella.
The group will go away for Cambodia on Might 11. The weightlifting occasion begins on Might 13 at Nationwide Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh. INQ
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