MANILA, Philippines - Two-time Olympian Hidilyn Diaz and six other Filipino weightlifters will get to hone their skills in a three-month training in Nanning, China in preparation for the coming Southeast Asian Games.
Diaz, a veteran of the Beijing and London Games, will lead the contingent that will train from June 9-Sept. 7 in their Southern China camp. She will be joined by her fellow “priority athletes†Richard Pep Agosto and Christopher Bureros, as well as former junior aces Nestor Colonia and Jeffrey Garcia and POC-PSC National Games standouts Angel Lado and Maybelin Pablo. They will be accompanied by coaches Ramon Solis and Edmundo Cardano.
“China’s Olympics weightlifters are said to be training in Nanning so hopefully we’ll be able to train with them and learn valuable things,†said Agosto.
The seven weightlifters are being primed up for the 2013 SEAG in Myanmar, where the Phl hopes to win medals.
Last time in Indonesia, the Pinoys won a silver, courtesy of Diaz (58kgs) and two bronzes courtesy of Agosto (105kg+) and Christopher Bureros (94kgs).
Garcia netted two gold medals in the 2012 Asian Junior Weightlifting Championships in Myanmar while Colonia, nephew of 1988 Seoul Olympian Gregorio Colonia, got two silvers in the same tourney. Pablo broke the Phl record in the recent PNG while Lado also made a winning lift in the 2013 national games.