Hidilyn Diaz will lead the country’s final Olympic bid in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup in Phuket, Thailand, from March 31 to April 11.

Joining the 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalists in the tournament, which is the final qualifier for the Paris Olympics are:

• Zamboangueñas Rosegie Ramos (W49kg.) 
• Kristel Macrohon
• Lovely Inan of Angono, Rizal (W49kg.)
• John Febuar Ceniza (M61kg.)
• Elreen Ann Ando of Cebu City 
• Vanessa Sarno of Bohol.

Macrohon and Sarno are both competing in the W71kg. while Diaz and 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medalist Ando are entered in the W59kg. category.

The athletes, accompanied by Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella and coaches Antonio Agustin Jr. and Diwa delos Santos (Zamboanga City), Nicolas Jaluag (Bohol), and Christopher Bureros (Cebu City), will leave on March 29.

Based on the IWF Olympic qualifying rankings, Ceniza is 6th, Sarno 5th, Diaz 8th, and Ramos 9th.

Only the top 10 lifters will earn a quota place and bodyweight category through the IWF Olympic Qualification Ranking tournaments from Aug. 1, 2022, to April 28, 2024.

The World Cup will be the first tournament for Diaz after sustaining a knee injury at the 2023 IWF Grand Prix II in Doha, Qatar.

She skipped last month’s Asian Championships, where the Philippines bagged two silver medals courtesy of Ramos and Ando.

In the Southeast Asian Games, Sarno won the gold medals in Vietnam (2022) and Cambodia (2023), while Macrohon triumphed in Manila (2019).

Sarno also bagged two medals at the Asian Championships — a gold in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (2020) and a silver in Jinju, South Korea (2023).

Ceniza, 25, got the silver medal at Qatar’s 2023 World Grand Prix II.

He registered a total of 298kg. despite finishing fourth in the snatch (133kg.) and fifth in the clean and jerk (165kg.) — all new national records.

Sources:(1),(2)

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