Hidilyn Diaz to grace 1st National Students Championship weightlifting this Sunday

Cebu Weightlifting Association (CWA) Inc. officers, led by its president Felix Tiukinhoy (center), in a press conference at the Cebu Country Club. Ray Charlie Diaz

HOPING to give more exposure to the sport of weightlifting, the Cebu Weightlifting Association (CWA) Inc. will hold the 1st National Students Championship (NSC) and CWA Affiliate Women’s Weightlifting Invitational this Sunday at the Ayala Center Cebu’s The Terraces.

The big event will be joined by 27 weightlifters coming from 10 schools from different regions of the country.

Cebu City will be represented by athletes from the University of Cebu (UC), University of San Carlos (USC) and Mabolo National High school (MNH).

2016 Summer Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz will be gracing the inaugural event as the program ambassador despite her hectic schedule in preparation for the Asian Games.

“We want to make the event as high-level as possible,” Jude Sulla, the secretary general of CWA, said during a press conference yesterday at the Cebu Country Club in Banilad, Cebu City. “Because we aim to uplift the sport.”

University of Bohol, Bohol Institute of Technology and Holy Name University will also compete for the Visayas region. ICCT Colleges, Mapua University and New Era University comprise the Luzon bets while the University of Zamboanga will be the lone team from Mindanao.
PEP Project of Angono, Rizal, will also partake in the invitational competition together with Stay Fit Gym and Roanne Beltran of Bulacan.

The event serves as a qualifier for the World University Championship in Poland and top winners, one from the men’s and another from the women’s, will be sponsored by the CWA to compete internationally.

According to CWA President Felix “Boy” Tiukinhoy, the CWA is the only association approved by the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP) to send student-athletes to international tournaments.

“We are doing this in line with the grassroots program, and this will be the start of an annual weightlifting event,” Tiukinhoy said. “If funding is good then we’ll try to organize more weightlifting competitions because it is one thing to really see the athletes’ progress.”

The event is in partnership with the Philippine Sports Commission, Cebu City Sports Commission, Cebu Provincial Sports Commission and Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc.