MANILA, Philippines – Two-time Filipina Olympian Hidilyn Diaz emerged as the top pound-for-pound female weightlifter in Asia after her excellent performance in the recent Asian Seniors Weightlifting Championships in Phuket, Thailand.
Diaz, who swept all three golds at stake in the women's 53 kg competition, earned a Sinclair Total of 322.953 – the highest among the champions and competitors across all weight divisions in the four-day Continental tourney.
International bodies use statistical formula, particularly the "Sinclair Coefficients" to compare different weight classes in Olympic weightlifting.
Diaz, who had a winning total lift of 214 kgs and a body weight of 52.96 kgs, took the No. 1 ranking over two Chinese champions, Zhou Wenyu in the 63 kgs (322.107) and Li Ping in the 58 kgs (321.406), North Korean Kim Kuk Hyang in the +75kgs (319.522) and Thai Srirurat Sukanya, also in 58kgs play (319.241).
This boosted the stock of the 24-year-old Diaz as she vies for a third consecutive Olympiad stint in Rio next year. Diaz will next compete in Olympic-qualifying IWF World Championships in Houston, along with Nestor Colonia, who made history by capturing two golds and one silver in the men's 56 kgs category of the Asian tilt.
Colonia (55.4 kg body weight and 274 kg total lift) posted 428.007 Sinclair aggregate, which was good for 25th overall among the male lifters.
North Korean Kim Myok Hok, the champion in the 69 kg category, topped the list with a Sinclair tally of 455.290, with China’s Ding Jianjun, the winner of the 62 kg hostilities, finishing at No. 2 with 453.196.