By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Olympic hopeful Vanessa Sarno, competing with a hurting knee, finished a disappointing fifth in the 2024 Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
The two-time Southeast Asian Games champion was far from her best self by managing only a total lift of 228 kilos to finish behind Song Kuk Hyang of North Korea, who lifted an astounding 269 kilos en route to ruling the women’s 71kg division.
From the start, the 20-year-old Bohol native struggled by failing to lift 100 kilos on her first attempt in snatch. She completed it on her second attempt and tried for 104 kilos on her third, but was unsuccessful.
Running sixth heading to the clean & jerk, Sarno regained her strength to register 125 and 128 kilos on her first two attempts.
She tried to lift 132 kilos on her final attempt only to be frustrated.
Not only did Sarno fail in her bid to duplicate her gold-medal feat in the 2020 edition also held in Uzbekistan’s capital city, but her performance was also a far cry from her personal best and national records she posted last December at the IWF Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar.
She also missed the podium in Doha, but registered new PH marks in snatch (108 kilos), clean & jerk (141 kilos) and total (249 kilos).
Meanwhile, Song was a cut above the rest by also claiming gold medals in snatch (115 kilos) and clean & jerk (154 kilos).
Chinese Taipei’s Chen Wen-Huei claimed silver with a 236 total, while South Korean Mun Minhee bagged the bronze with 231 kilos.
Overall, the PH team reaped three silver medals and one bronze courtesy of Elreen Ando and Rosegie Ramos.
The tournament is part of the qualification process for the 2024 Paris Olympics where it offered ranking points.
