Powerlifters Ancheta, Kitan set to compete in world championships

Paralympians Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta and Agustin Kitan are scheduled to compete on Friday (Saturday in Manila) in the 2017 World Para Powerlifting Championships in Mexico. (Photo: Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta/Facebook)

MANILA — Paralympians Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta and Agustin Kitan are scheduled to compete on Friday (Saturday in Manila) in the 2017 World Para Powerlifting Championships in Mexico.

Ancheta will compete in the women’s over 86kg category while Kitan will see action in the men’s up to 65kg category. Both events will be held at the Gymnasium Juan de La Barrera at the Benito Juarez Sports Complex.

“The competition is really tough. We are against the best of the best. There are over 300 lifters from 71 countries competing here,” said Ancheta in an online interview on Thursday.

The World Para Powerlifting Championships, which was rescheduled to November 29-December 9 after a strong earthquake struck Mexico City on September 19, is one of the qualifying tournaments for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Ancheta and Kitan are among four Filipinos who entered in the tournament sanctioned by the International Paralympic Committee.

Achelle Guion finished eighth among 13 entries in the women’s Up to 65kg category while Romeo Tayawa placed 13th among 18 competitors in the men’s Up to 40kg category.

The athletes, together with coach Ramon Debuque and Philippine Paralympic Committee executive director Dennis Esta, arrived in Mexico on November 29.

This is the fourth world championships for Ancheta, who first competed in 2002 edition held in Malaysia. Before the Mexico World Championships,

Ancheta has competed last August in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur ASEAN Games, where she won her seventh gold medal.

Ancheta is the first Filipino to win a medal in the Paralympic Games where she bagged the bronze medal in Sydney, Australia. She also competed in 2004 (Athens, Greece), 2008 (Beijing, China), 2012 (London, Great Britain) and 2016 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

Aside from the ASEAN Para Games, Ancheta also competed in the Far East and South Pacific (FESPIC) Games, which was replaced by the Asian Para Games starting with the 1st Asian Para Games in 2010 in Guangzhou, China. She won the silver medal in 1999 (Bangkok, Thailand), 2002 (Busan, South Korea), 2010 and 2014 (Incheon, South Korea).

Kitan, on the other hand, won the bronze in the KL SEA Games. He has competed in the 2012 Paralympic Games together with Guion.