Elreen Ando (middle) together with her fellow weightlifters gets a slot in the Philippine team for the 2023 Southeast Asian Games after they won in the Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas 2023 a qualifying tournament for the SEA Games. | SWP national coach Ramon Solis
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Olympian weightlifter Elreen Ando of Cebu City topped the women’s 59-kilogram category of last Friday’s Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) 2023 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) qualifying tournament in Metro Manila.
The 24-year-old Ando of the University of Cebu (UC) posted a record setting 125-kilogram lift in the clean and jerk to eclipse the erstwhile national record of 123kg in her debut in the 59kg women’s division.
It can be recalled that Ando became the first Cebuana weightlifter to compete in the Olympics. She competed in the Tokyo Olympics and finished seventh in the 64 kg division. She went on capping off the year with a silver medal in the Hanoi SEA Games.
In yesterday’s SEA Games qualifiers, she lifted a total of 220 kgs after she posted 95 kg in snatch to book her ticket to the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia this May.
Ando grabbed the attention of the local weightlifting scene after she and the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz will compete in the same 59 kg division for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournament in May in Korea.
The Olympic qualifying tournament is set after the SEA Games which Diaz decided not to compete to prepare for the Olympics.
On the other hand, fellow Cebuanos Fernando Agad, John Dexter Tabique, and John Febuar Ceniza also topped their respective categories in yesterday’s competition.
Fernando Agad topped the 55 kg men’s division with 243 kg. He posted 105 kg in snatch and went on lifting 138 kg in the clean and jerk.
Ceniza topped the 61 kg division with a total of 273 kg lift. He had 118 kg snatch and 155 kg clean and jerk.
Lastly, Tabique ruled the 89 kg division with 296 kg total lift. He posted 135 kg snatch and 161 kg in the clean and jerk.
The four Cebuano weightlifters virtually ensured themselves a slot for the national team for the SEA Games in Cambodia.
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