Team Malaysia Has Won 4 Gold Medals At The 2019 Asian Classic Powerlifting Championships
The team won a total of 12 medals.
By Liew Ashley — 12 Dec 2019, 06:39 PM
Team Malaysia won big at the recently concluded Asian Classic Powerlifting Championships 2019 that was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan
This marks the third Asian Championships that Malaysia has competed in, with the national team bringing back the most number of gold medals this year.
The team, consisting of six athletes, won 12 medals collectively - four gold, five silver, and three bronze medals.
The first two gold medals were clinched by Stephanie Mary Ensol, one of Malaysia's strongest female powerlifters
Hailing from Sarawak, the small but mighty powerlifter competed in the Women's Open Under 47kg weight category and won the deadlift event by pulling 142.5kg.
She also came second in the squat and bench press events, lifting 112.5kg and 72.5kg respectively.
This placed Ensol in a favourable position, allowing her to emerge as the overall champion in her weight class, thus bagging another gold medal.
The other two gold medals were secured by Kathryn Chong - an impressive feat considering this is her first appearance in an international meet
The 23-year-old jeweller from Sabah won a gold medal in the deadlift discipline by lifting 147.5kg.
She also managed to clinch a sliver medal by squatting 107.5kg, as well as a bronze medal in the bench press event with 55kg.
Overall, Chong brought back one more gold medal for Malaysia by overtaking her competitors to place first in the Women's Junior Under 52kg weight category.
Known as one of the strongest deadlifters in the local powerlifting community, Liew Ashton added to Malaysia's medal tally by being the first runner-up in the deadlift event for his weight class
Liew competed in the Men's Junior Under 93kg weight category and brought home a sliver medal by deadlifting a whopping 290kg.
Malaysian powerhouse Nelson Chui managed to bag another three medals to wrap up the team's win
The 35-year-old Sabahan finished as the overall first runner-up in the Men's Open 120+kg weight category, earning him a silver medal.
He also won a bronze medal in the squat event with an impressive 305kg (twice his body weight), as well as in the deadlift event with 280kg.
Meanwhile, athletes Kenneth Kaden Chin and Yeoh Han Pin also put up a commendable performance
Reigning national champion Chin competed in the Men's Open Under 59kg weight category where he got seventh place.
On the other hand, Yeoh, who was a bronze and sliver medalist in the 2017 Asian Powerliftiing Championships, placed sixth in the competitive Men's Open Under Under 74kg weight category.
Additionally, the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championships 2019 also marked a historic moment for Team Malaysia
Ensol and Chong created history by being the first athletes to be crowned champion of their respective categories.
Malaysia has never had an overall Asian champion before this, hence, it was a momentous moment to have Negaraku being played during the medal ceremony not once, but twice.
