Diaz keys Phl record romps

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  – Olympian weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz spearheaded an assault on the record books as national athletes finally set new Phl marks in the 2011 POC-PSC National Games here yesterday.

Diaz, 20, flaunted her fine form in weightlifting’s 58-kg competitions, shattering the national records in the snatch (95kgs), clean and jerk (120kgs) and total lift (215 kgs) of both the women’s open and juniors (age 18-20) categories and boosting her confidence as she bids to qualify for the London Olympics.

Complementing Diaz’s six-record feat was 17-year-old Zamboanga lifter Maybelin Pablo (75 kg division), who rewrote the record four times – the women’s open and junior snatch (76), and the junior clean and jerk (98) and total (174).

Sisters Patricia and Lea Ruth Llena were on record-breaking mode as well, with the Youth Olympic Games participant Patricia (63kg) re-setting the marks in snatch (85kgs) and total (185 kgs) in the youth class (17 and under) and the younger Lea Ruth obliterating the snatch (75kgs), clean and jerk (85 kgs) and total (160 kgs) in the secondary side.

A national junior mark also fell in athletics, courtesy of San Sebastian’s Mervin Guarte, the 800m champ who topped the men’s 1,500m in 3:57.83. The former Palarong Pambansa standout’s clocking wiped out the 4:01.10 junior record held by Ignacio Gahete since the 1993 Indonesia Open meet.

Taekwondo’s Olympic hopeful, Fil-Am Pauline Lopez, led the Nationals’ charge in the martial art, where the fancied crew won 10 of the 13 gold medals at stake. But it was not the same over in cycling and billiards, where more fancied Phl bets fell.

“We really expected to break the record since my coach (Tony Agustin) has been challenging me to at least approximate the national record during our training,” Diaz, who is poised to undergo training in China in preparation for international meets like the Junior World Championships in Penang in June and the Olympic-qualifying world tilt in Paris in November, said in Filipino.

Diaz’s lifts, according to Agustin, was good enough for silver in the Southeast Asian Games, giving the Zamboanga pride a legit shot at the country’s first-ever SEAG plum in women’s weightlifting.

Pretty and tall Asian Gamer Lopez, one of four Phl jins slated to compete in the world qualifiers for the London joust, overpowered Baguio City’s Catherine Dea, 9-3, to rule the finweight hostilities. 

Also stamping their class were Phl jins Paul Romero (featherweight), Devy John Singson (fly), Samuel Morrison (lightweight), Jose Anthony Soriano (middle-heavy) and Christian Al dela Cruz (welter), Jyra Lizardo (bantam), Leigh Ann Nuguid (fin), Camille Manalo (lightwelter) and Jony Ann Reyes (middle-heavy).

Negros Occidental’s Leopoldo Japitana (1:35:35), former Phl mainstay, shocked current nationals Alvin Benosa (1:39:01) and Aldren Alosado (1:39:10) in seizing the mountainbike gold.

La Carlota’s Cid Tingzon also scored a major upset, dealing Guangzhou Asiad champ Dennis Orcollo a 9-5 beating in the second round of men’s 9-ball. Tingzon, 22, fought back from a 2-4 deficit to get to 5-5, then cleaned up the remaining sets to complete the reversal.

In swimming, Asian Gamer Jessie Khing Lacuna captured his fifth and sixth golds, the boys’ 17-18 200m IM (2:11.76,) and the 50m breaststroke (31.89) but fell short of a seventh when his Bulacan team (2:30.67) yielded the top two spots in the 200m medley relay to Puerto Princesa (2:26.93) and Bacolod City (2:28.48).

Jasmine Alkhaldi of Las Piñas won two more events, the girls 17-18 100m free (59.13) and 100m fly (1:04.38), to hike her collection to five golds.

Quezon City made a big splash with triumphs from Kezia Sarmiento (girls’ 15-16 50m backstroke, 32.06), Phillip Joaquin Santos (boys 10-under 100m butterfly, 1:28.23, and 200m IM, 3:09.30), Viel Voltaire Vitug (boys 10-U 50 back, 41.59, and 50m breast, 48.49), Dominic Leandrei Buhain (boys 11-12 200m IM, 2:48.99); 

Christine Jeanne Ungriano (girls 13-14 200m IM, 2:53.59), Christianna Taleon (girls 17-18 200m IM, 2:59.07), and Antonio Aquino IV (boys 10-U free, 1:25.78).