PHNOM PENH, May 15 — The national weightlifting squad can heave a sigh of relief as they managed to meet their target of winning a bronze medal in the sport at the 2023 SEA Games today.
Young weightlifter, Nur Syazwani Radzi won the bronze in the women’s 64 kilogrammes (kg) category on the last day of the weightlifting competition at the Olympic Taekwondo Hall here.
The achievement thus made up for the disappointment of the national weightlifting camp when Muhammad Erry Hidayat, who was expected to win a bronze, failed to do so after failing to finish in the men’s 73 kg category, yesterday.
The 20-year-old Nur Syazwani, who is making her SEA Games debut, lifted a total of 184kg, recording 80kg for the snatch and 104 for the clean and jerk.
The gold medal was won by Tsabitha Alfiah Ramadani of Indonesia who lifted 204kg overall (snatch 97kg, clean and jerk 107kg) while Vietnamese participant Thi Thu Uyen Dinh brought home silver after recording 194kg (snatch 96kg, clean and jerk 98kg).
When met by reporters, Nur Syazwani said that during the snatch category, she tried to exert all her energy to lift 104kg to ensure that she could win the bronze medal.
“Before my turn, the athletes from Indonesia and Vietnam did their lifts. I felt that I needed to do better movements if I wanted to bring home a medal.
“I’m happy I was able to do a perfect lift... for the record, the best I’ve ever done in the snatch is 106kg,” said Nur Syazwani , who hails from Bukit Pinang, Kedah.
Previously, the Malaysian Weightlifting Association (PABM) had aimed for the national squad to bring home a bronze medal through Muhammad Erry.
It was due to two other national weightlifters, Muhamad Aznil Bidin and Mohamad Aniq Kasdan, not able join the games in Cambodia because they have to participate in other tournaments that promise qualification points for the Paris Olympics 2024. — Bernama
