HANGZHOU – Team Philippines found solace on the broad shoulders of weightlifter Elreen Ando.
On the day Hidilyn Diaz lost in her bid for glory in the 19th Asian Games, it was the 24-year-old Ando who rose to the occasion and salvaged a bronze medal in the women’s 64 kg class that kept the country afloat with a full week left before the continental showcase comes to a close.
Team Philippines results October 2 19th Asian Games
The Cebu native did 96 in the snatch and 126 in the clean and jerk for a 222 total and a podium finish that gave the Philippines its eight bronze medal overall.
By the end of the day, the country remains at 20th place to be exact, counting the single gold pole vaulter EJ Obiena won and the lone silver courtesy of sanda fighter Arnel Mandal in wushu.
Diaz, 32, who ended the country’s century-old search for a first-ever Olympic gold medal in Tokyo two years ago, was among the strong bets out of the 395 Filipino athletes for a possible medal finish notwithstanding her moving up in weight class at 59 kg.
But the two-time Olympian could only muster a fourth-place finish in the midst of a competitive 11-woman field that saw records being broken in the world and Asian levels one after the other.
Ando, however, was there to save the day for the Philippines and kept the pace of the country winning a medal each and every day.
Meanwhile, only a formality awaits the coronation of China as overall champion for the nth time.
The hosts continued to pull away in the medal standings after notching 146 golds, 81 silvers, and 42 bronzes.
Japan is a far second with its 33-44-45 tally, followed by South Korea (31-39-63), India (13-24-23), and Chinese Taipei (12-10-17).
Uzbekistan occupies sixth place (11-14-18), Thailand at seventh (10-7-16), then North Korea (7-10-5), Hong Kong (6-15-23), and Bahrain, which cracked the Top 10 for the first time with a 6-1-4 slate.
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