GOLD COAST: Malaysia’s first gold medal delivered by weightlifter Azroy Hazal Wafie Izhar Ahmad will inspire the Malaysian contingent to do better at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
The national contingent’s chef de mission, Huang Ying How, said the success was a timely boost to the other athletes who will be competing in their respective events.
“I believe this is just the right motivation for the other national athletes to succeed. We have athletes in action later this evening (Thursday), and I hope the excellent start will continue,” he told reporters after witnessing Azroy’s winning heroics at the Carrara Sports And Leisure Centre today.
Ying How also congratulated the national weightlifting squad, especially Azroy, coach Wang Zhi Quan and manager Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim who himself is a formerrecord breaking national weightlifter, for bringing honours to the country.
He added that Azroy’s victory was a positive start for the country's contingent.
“We expected Azroy to deliver a medal, as he was a seeded competitor for his event, and when he broke the Games record, we knew straight away that the gold medal belongs to Malaysia,” he said.
The 24-year-old weightlifter who had just celebrated his birthday yesterday, won Malaysia's first gold medal in the 56kg snatch event at the Games which began yesterday and ends on April 15.
Azroy who hails from Pahang, cleared 261kg in total to crack the previous record of 260kg set by his idol and coach, Amirul Hamizan at the 2002 Manchester edition.
Apart from breaking the Games record, he also set a new record in the snatch event after lifting 117kg, bettering the old record of 116kg that was also set by Amirul albeit during the 2010 New Delhi edition. -- Bernama