Manila: Nine weightlifters, led by Olympian Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, will compete in the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Thailand next month. Diaz-Naranjo, who delivered the country’s first gold medal in the 55kg category at the Tokyo Olympics, will compete in the 58kg category.
According to Philippines News Agency, the other members of the roster include Rosegie Ramos (W 48kg), Jhodie Peralta (W 53kg), Elreen Ann Ando (W 63kg), Kristel Macrohon (W 69kg), Fernando Agad Jr. (M 60kg), Dave Lloyd Pacaldo (M 65 kg), Albert Ian Delos Santos (M 71kg), and John Dexter Tabique (M 94kg). Naranjo-Diaz won consecutive gold medals in the SEAG held in the Philippines in 2019 and Vietnam in 2021 but skipped the Cambodia edition in 2023 to focus on the Asian Championships, a qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Peralta secured two medals, a gold in snatch and a bronze in clean and jerk, at the 3rd Asian Youth Games in Bahrain last month. Ando, a two-time Olympian, won a bronze medal at the 2025 IWF World Championships in Forde, Norway. Macrohon, a gold medalist at the 2019 SEAG, won three bronze medals at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Zhejiang, China last May. The Philippines also secured seven silver medals, with three each from Ando and Ramos, and one from Agad.
Delos Santos expressed optimism about his debut in the SEAG, scheduled from Dec. 9 to 22. He aims for a gold medal in the SEA Games and is determined to achieve it. Despite missing the podium at the World Youth and Junior Championships in Forde, Norway, Delos Santos registered a world junior record of 185kgs in clean and jerk, finishing eighth in the men’s 71kg category. At the World Youth and Junior Championships in Lima, Peru, he won the Juniors 67kg title with a total of 309kgs and captured gold and silver medals in the Junior division of the 2025 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Kazakhstan.
Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) President Monico Puentevella emphasized that the SEA Games and the Asian Games are stepping stones towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Puentevella, inducted into the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Hall of Fame in 2022, will join the Thailand trip along with coaches Antonio Agustin Jr., Ramon Solis, Samuel Alegada, Diwa Delos Santos, and Julius Irvin Hikaru Naranjo.
