MANILA, Philippines - Olympian Nestor Colonia of Philippine Air Force and Elreen Anne Ando of Alino Integrated Services took home the Best Lifter plums to lead the winners of the Hidilyn Diaz Weightlifting Open Championships at Meralco Fitness Center recently.
Colonia, a teammate of Diaz in the Rio Games, stamped his class in the men’s 62-kg play with a 253-kg effort built around 113kgs in snatch and 140kgs in clean and jerk while Ando ruled the women’s 63kg with 186 kg total (85-101).
Around 130 lifters took part in the tournament named after the 2016 Olympics silver medalist Diaz, who thanked the MVP Sports Foundation, Philippine Weightlifting Association, UP Weightlifting Club and CrossFit Ortigas for making the two-day event possible.
Diaz’ cousin, Mary Flor of Mampang dominated the women’s 48kg class after lifting 148 kgs while her brother Eduardo Jr. grabbed a silver in men’s 69kg with a 218kg total behind winner Joshua Dinglasa of Pasolobong (255kgs).
Dinglasa’s Pasolobong teammates Margaret Colonia and Kristel Macrohon also struck gold in their respective events.