THE year 2016 is a good year for the Philippine Weightlifting Association (PWA), said its President Monico Puentevella, after it snatched a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics as well as several other accomplishments during the World Youth Championships in Penang, Malaysia and the Asian Youth Championships in Tokyo.

For Puentevella, Hidiliyn Diaz’s silver medal finish in Rio made his job easier. “There’s so much demand now for weightlifting all over the country. And, so many children are taking up the sport, too which I saw in the recent Batang Pinoy in Tagum City,” he said.