KUCHING: National weightlifting Olympian, Mohamad Aniq Kasdan, finally broke through on Asia’s biggest stage after clinching his first-ever silver medal haul at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Gandhinagar, India tonight.
The national weightlifting ace produced a career-best outing in the men’s 60kg category, walking away with three silver medals after recording a total lift of 277kg.
Aniq lifted 122kg in the snatch and 155kg in the clean and jerk, both enough for silver, before sealing another runner-up finish through the combined total.
Only North Korea’s Cholpang Un stood above him with a dominant 304kg total, while Vietnam’s Thanhlai Gia settled for bronze with 267kg.
For Aniq, this was more than just a podium finish.
It was the breakthrough he had been building towards.
After narrowly missing the medals with fourth place in Bahrain in 2022 and improving to sixth in South Korea a year later, the Malaysian finally turned promise into hardware on the continental stage.
The numbers told the story too.
His 277kg total surpassed the 266kg he managed at the 2025 World Championships in Førde, Norway, underlining both his growth and consistency against Asia’s elite lifters.
The Asian Championships also carry added weight beyond medals, serving as a key qualification pathway for major events such as the Olympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
At 24, Aniq continues to cement his place as one of Malaysia’s brightest weightlifting hopes following his Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham and near-podium finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
This time, Asia finally saw him rise onto the stage.
