Lifters polish their skills in Moscow

20/07/1998

THE national weightlifters received a much needed lift when they were
given the green light by the National Sports Council (NSC) to under go a
one-month training stint in Moscow.
The team left last week with a "new hope" who is capable of winning a
medal in the 56kg category at the September Games.
Abdul Rahman Ahmad, always in the shadows of 1994 Victoria Games silver
medallist Matin Guntali, hit the headlines when he rewrote the national
record twice at the Malaysian Open last month.
Rahman first set a national mark of 107.5kg in snatch. The old mark of
102.5kg was set by Terengganu's Roswadi Rashid.
That new mark also equalled India's Thandava Muthu's Commonwealth
Championship record.
Matin then lifted 237.5kg to smash the old national record of 227.5kg
set by Roswadi.
And in the clean and jerk event, he lifted 130.0kg to equal Roswadi's
national record.
Matin has not been impressive the past year while 24-year-old Rahman,
from Pahang, also equalled the Commonwealth Championships record in the
56kg category.
His achievements were all the more remarkable considering he had to
battle a shoulder injury for the past nine months that forced him out of
March's Commonwealth Championship in Nauru.
"We took into consideration that the weightlifters are medal prospects
for the Comonwealth Games and also because they were geting a little
restless training at the same venue every day of the year," said NSC
director general Datuk Mazlan Ahmad.
Team manager Abu Hanapiah Ismail and coaches Slava Lelikov and Willian
Yeo accompanied the lifters.
"Initially the plan was to send the weightlifters to train in Turkey with
a club run by Naim Suleymanoglu. Since we did not receive any response
from them, we decided on Russia."
The choice of Russia was also because the weightlifters have been
following a Russian programme the past three years.
Twenty-seven countries have confirmed participation in the Commonwealth
Games.
In Victoria in 1994, only 19 countries and 91 weightlifters took part.
Squad: Abdul Rahman Ahmad, Matin Guntali (56kg); Kamaruzaman Jusan
(62kg); Hidayat Hamidon, Rosdi Ngah (69kg); Rosliman Haron (77kg); Edmund
Yeo (85kg); Che Mohamed Azrol (105kg).
(END)