Focus on medals, not national records, weightlifting president tells athletes

New Straits Times

14-05-2025

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) president Datuk Ayub Rahmat has made it clear that he was not impressed with his charges' performances at the recent Asian Weightlifting Championships in China.
Malaysian weightlifters were able to break two national records at the Asian meet but failed to finish on the podium in their respective events.
"Overall, we (association) are not very comfortable with the results shown by our athletes in China," said Ayub when met recently.
"I have constantly reminded our athletes that when they go for competitions at the international level, the goal is to win medals.
"You can break the national record 10 or 20 times but if you finish in 10th position, it means nothing to the country.
"I have already spoken to the athletes and the coaches and have asked for a detailed report on each athlete's performance once they have come back to Malaysia.
"We want to know what happened and understand how we can improve.
"This is their first competition since the World Championships in Manama, Bahrain in December, so they could be a little rusty."
Aniq Kasdan, who competed in the men's under-61kg class, set a new snatch national record of 132kg in China, bettering his old record of 130kg set at the Paris Olympics last year.
Aniq, a World Championships silver medallist, however, failed to clear 163kg in three attempts in the clean and jerk and was thus not ranked in the competition.
Hafizuddin Roslin also broke his own snatch national record (152kg, 2024 Thailand) in the men's under-81kg class in China after clearing 155kg.
He managed 175kg in the clean and jerk which saw him settling for sixth overall in his weight class.
Ayub is hoping Aniq, Hafizuddin, Erry Hidayat and Aznil Bidin, who all competed in China, will be able to bounce back at the Commonwealth Games qualifiers in India (August).
"Our main focus is to make sure these four athletes qualify for the Commonwealth Games as they are expected to challenge for medals there," said Ayub.
"Securing early qualification to the games is important for us."
Malaysia has traditionally done well in weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games. The next edition of the games will be held in Glasgow in 2026.
Aniq and Aznil had both won gold for Malaysia at the 2022 Birmingham edition.