Physical and mental strength vital - Aniq

By FARAH NAJIHAH

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 (Bernama) -- Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold medallist Mohamad Aniq Kasdan believes arriving a week early and training at the venue, had helped in the success of the weightlifting team.

Mohamad Aniq who clinched Malaysia's first gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham added that physical and mental strength was equally important.

Before leaving for Birmingham, the Segamat-born Aniq had only set himself a silver medal target because it was his first appearance in the games.

However, after arriving in Birmingham and training at the venue, he was determined to go home with a gold medal instead. 

"We arrived in Birmingham a week early and managed to train at the 'warm up area' together with weightlifters from other countries. That helped swing my mood to strengthen my physical and mental strength," he told Bernama when contacted today.

Aniq was also thankful to his coach Yon Haryono, a former Indonesian weightlifter, for his continuous support and motivation.

“I was a little nervous when the competition started but I visualised my family and how they would be supporting me. That cooled me down and helped me focus on the competition. I also wanted to win badly to give the sport of weightlifting a new image," said Aniq.

Aniq is no stranger to weightlifting in the country as he had won the silver medal in the Clean & Jerk men's 55kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. 

The Johorian who would be representing his state in the SUKMA come September, however, feels there were aspects of the sport that he has to improve, especially the ‘snatch’ segment to ensure a good performance in the World Championships in Colombia by end of the year.

A good performance will earn him a slot for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

He added that to earn a place in the team for the World Championships, he would have to compete with teammate Muhammad Aznil Bidin, winner of the 61kg gold medal in Birmingham.

The Malaysian weightlifting squad has won two gold medals in Birmingham.

-- BERNAMA