Lifter Ceniza clinches silver in IWF Grand Prix

John Febuar Ceniza gave the country its fourth medal in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Grand Prix II after clinching a silver in his weight class on Wednesday, Dec. 6, in Doha, Qatar.

Despite failing to land a podium in snatch and clean & jerk, the 25-year-old Cebuano was able to tally a total lift of 298 kilograms — enough for the runner-up honors in the men’s 61kg division.

The two-time Southeast Asian Games silver winner managed only fourth in snatch with a lift of 133 kilos and then came in fifth in clean & jerk with 165 kilos.

Ceniza registered both weights on his second attempt. He failed to lift 135 kilos on his final try in snatch, and was also unsuccessful in lifting 168 kilos in his last attempt in clean & jerk.

North Korea’s Pak Myong Jin captured the gold medal in total with 305 kilos, while Malaysia’s Mohamad Aniq Bin Kasdan claimed the bronze with 296.

Pak banked on his gold-medal feat in clean & jerk with 171 kilos after finishing with a bronze in snatch with 134.

China’s Li Fabin and Indonesia’s Eko Yuli Irawan bagged the gold and silver in snatch with 137 and 136 kilos, respectively, while Mohamad won the silver in clean & jerk via countback over United States’ Hampton Miller Morris after both lifters registered identical 170 kilos.

Overall, the country now has four silver medals, accounting for Rosegie Ramos’ three silver feats in the women’s 45kg division.