MANILA, Philippines – Filipina weightlifting standouts Rosegie and Rose Jean Ramos kickstarted the Philippines’ campaign at the 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championships on a high note, nabbing five of the country’s six total medals across the 45kg and 49kg categories on Friday, May 5.

Rosegie, competing at 49kg, claimed the country’s first gold in snatch with an 84kg lift, besting the Japanese duo of Rira Suzuki (83kg) and Chiaki Ajima (82kg).

Rose Jean, meanwhile, got the ball rolling at the 45kg opening event with a silver sweep on snatch (73kg), clean and jerk (88kg), and total (161kg).

The 17-year-old prospect bowed only to 27-year-old Thai Siriwimon Pramongkhol, who completed a dominant golden rally of 77kg in snatch and 100kg in clean and jerk for a 177kg total.

Although Rosegie dropped to sixth in clean and jerk with just 99kg after failing twice at 102, her compatriot Lovely Inan took up the mantle with a 103kg lift and added one more silver to the Philippines’ medal chest.

Inan’s clean and jerk ultimately served as a nice comeback effort to end the Filipinas’ slate for the day, as the 18-year-old floundered in snatch with just an 80kg lift for sixth place.

Rosegie also clinched the bronze for the total lift over Inan via countback as both standouts finished with 183kg. She joined gold medalist Rira Suzuki of Japan (194kg) and silver winner Korea’s home bet Jaegyong Shin (184kg) at the podium.

Five more Filipinos are on deck to bring pride and possibly more gleaming hardware to the country, starting with John Ceniza at men’s 61kg on Saturday, May 6, 10 am (Manila time).

Reigning Olympic 55kg champion Hidilyn Diaz then takes the stage for her 59kg debut on Sunday, May 7, 5 pm (Manila time), setting up titanic clashes with fellow Olympians like Elreen Ando, who moved down from 64kg, and Kuo Hsing-chun of Taiwan.

Wrapping up the Philippine contingent’s schedule on Tuesday, May 9, 2 pm (Manila time) are Vanessa Sarno and Kristel Macrohon, who will both scrap for medals at the women’s 71kg category. – Rappler.com