By WAYLON GALVEZ
Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz still expects tough competition even without Thailand weightlifters in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
Thailand’s weightlifting association voluntarily suspended its athletes due to doping issues since the world championship in Pattaya last September and that will continue in the biennial meet set Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.
“Sa tingin ko maski wala ang Thailand, it’s going to be tough competition pa din kasi ang Vietnam and Indonesia may mga magagling din sila,” said Diaz.
The 28-year-old Zamboanga City native is confident, however, on the chances of the national team.
“Maganda ‘yung naging training ng members ng national team, yung preparation OK. Sa tingin ko kaya naman na makakuha ng gold medals,” she said.
The national team trained in China in preparation for the SEAG, which the country is hosting for the first time in 14 years.
Diaz trained separately in China for almost two months, and she is currently in Taiwan for the second time this year for another month-long training camp with her Chinese coach Kaiwen Gao, and conditioning and strengthening coach Julius Irvin Naranjo.
Diaz said she is in a training facility exclusively for weightlifting at the Gushan Municipal Kaohsiung High School. Once a week, she also trains at the national training center of Taiwan.
“So far, maganda naman po, nakabalik na ang kumpiyansa sa buhat at naibalik na ang lakas,” said Diaz, an Asian Games gold medalist.
“Nakakarecover na after bugbugan training then nasusunod na ang meal plan by my sports nutritionist,” added Diaz, who credited the continuous support of the Philippine Sports Commission under its chairman Butch Ramirez, the Phoenix Fuel company of businessman Dennis Uy, and the MVP Sports Foundation headed by Al Panlilio.
Diaz is aiming for her first ever gold medal in the SEAG, which also serves as qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
