19-Year-Old Aniq Wins 1st Medal For Malaysia At World Weightlifting Championships
The win also qualified him for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
By May Vin Ang — 08 Dec 2021, 12:05 PM
National athlete Aniq Kasdan clinched a silver medal at the World Weightlifting Championships in Uzbekistan on Tuesday, 7 December
The 19-year-old earned the medal by lifting an impressive 142kg in the men's Under 55kg clean and jerk event in Tashkent.
According to New Straits Times, Aniq became the first Malaysian to win a medal at the annual competition organised by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).
Besides that, he also set a new national record in the championship by lifting 107kg in the snatch event and thus earning a total score of 249kg, beating out fellow national weightlifter Azroy Hazalwafie's record of 248kg.
Aniq, who hails from Johor, also walked away with a Commonwealth Championships gold medal
Due to the pandemic, the IWF World Championships this year is also doubling as the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, becoming the main qualifier event for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
As the only Commonwealth weightlifter in the men's Under 55kg overall standings, Aniq thus earned the Commonwealth Championships first place and directly qualified for the 2022 Games.
"Alhamdulillah for the good fortune in the land of Uzbekistan," said the athlete on Instagram.
Aniq Kasdan (left) holding up his Commonwealth Championships gold medal and World Championships silver in Tashkent on Tuesday, 7 December.
Image via @_mohamadaniq (Instagram)Aniq's success comes as a ray of hope for Malaysian weightlifting, which has been tainted by doping issues
"This is Malaysia's best ever performance in the history of the World Championships," said Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) president Datuk Ayub Rahmat, as quoted by New Straits Times.
The IWF World Championships ends on 17 December, with other Malaysian atheltes Aznil Bidin and Erry Hidayat yet to compete in the Under 61kg and Under 73kg categories, respectively.
