KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) is bent on ending a 20-year gold medal drought at the SEA Games 2025 in Thailand.
MWF president Datuk Ayub Rahmat, however, admitted that it won’t be easy to achieve, as they last won gold at the 2005 edition in the Philippines.
But he has high hopes that the national lifters will raise their performance level in Thailand.
In fact, he added, the MWF has agreed to pay an incentive of RM6,000 to any lifter who managed to strike gold at the biennial Games.
“For this edition, we are targeting three bronze medals. But we are determined to end the 20-year gold medal drought. Hence, we have agreed to give RM6,000 – RM5,000 from the MWF and another RM1,000 from former lifter Mohd Firdaus Abd Razak – as an incentive for our lifters to go for gold,” he said when contacted by Bernama recently.
Malaysia last won a weightlifting gold medal at the 2005 Philippines SEA Games through Che Mod Azrol Che Mat in the men’s above 105-kilogramme (kg) category.
Asked about the lifters’ preparations for the Thailand SEA Games, Ayub said all the lifters and coaches are based in Rompin, Pahang, until Dec 9 to undergo the final phase of the training camp.
“The preparations are going smoothly and as planned, Alhamdulillah. We want to thank the National Sports Council (NSC) and the National Sports Institute (NSI) for their immense help during our training stints,” he said.
For the Thailand SEA Games, Malaysia will feature six lifters in the men’s category: Mohd Aniq Kasdan (60kg), Mohd Azni Bidin (65kg), Muhammad Erry Hidayat Muhammad Hidayat (79kg), Muhammad Hafizuddin Roslin (88kg), Muhammad Syahmi Nor Ghazali (94kg) and Mohamad Faris Haikal Kamarul (above 94kg).
The three women lifters are Irene Jane Henry (48kg), Nur Syazwani Rodzi (63kg) and Siti Aqilah Farhana Draman (above 77kg). – BERNAMA
