KUALA LUMPUR — National weightlifter Aniq Kasdan’s remarkable achievement of securing two silver medals at the World Weightlifting Championships in Manama, Bahrain, yesterday has raised hopes that he could one day become Malaysia’s first-ever world weightlifting champion.
The president of the Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (PABM), Datuk Ayub Rahmat, expressed pride in Aniq’s outstanding performance, which concluded the 2024 season on a high note.
Competing in the 61kg category, Aniq lifted 166kg in the clean and jerk, earning silver behind North Korea’s Pak Myong-jin, who clinched gold with a lift of 173kg. China’s Wei Haixian took bronze with 160kg.
Aniq’s second silver medal came in the total lift, where he recorded a combined weight of 296kg. Myong-jin continued his dominance with a total of 305kg to secure gold, while Tran An Tuan of Vietnam claimed bronze with 291kg.
In the snatch event, Aniq narrowly missed a podium finish, placing fourth with a 130kg lift.
Despite this, Ayub believes Aniq is on the right path to becoming Malaysia’s first weightlifting world champion.
He emphasised that surpassing a total lift of 300kg in major competitions would significantly boost Aniq’s chances of winning gold.
“To me, lifting around 296kg or 297kg is something Aniq usually achieves, but surpassing 300kg would be extraordinary.
“The records Aniq has set, including his achievements at this year’s World Championships, are remarkable because we have never seen such heights in Malaysian weightlifting before.
“This is a monumental achievement, one that no other Malaysian weightlifter has accomplished.
“We have high hopes for him, not just at the World Championships but also at the Olympics. To reach this level, he needs to pour his heart into the sport and make countless sacrifices,” Ayub told Scoop when contacted.
Ayub’s optimism is grounded in Aniq’s proven track record. He became the first Malaysian weightlifter to win a medal at the World Championships, ending the country’s 130-year medal drought.
In 2021, Aniq clinched silver in the clean and jerk event at the championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
He followed this with a bronze medal in the same event at last year’s edition in Riyadh, despite moving up from the 55kg to the 61kg weight category.
Even at the Paris Olympics in August, Aniq came close to a podium finish, lifting 297kg—a national record—just 1kg short of the bronze medalist, Hampton Morris of the United States.
Though the Olympic podium narrowly eluded him, Aniq continues to break barriers and raise the bar for Malaysian weightlifting. — December 8, 2024