Reduced weight benefits Hafifi
WEIGHTLIFTER Hafifi Mansor had to drop 3kg in two-days just to make his 69kg category at the 2017 Australian International and Open but it was all worth it as he collected two gold medals yesterday.
Going into the tournament without any target or expectation, the 27-year-old recorded 132kg in the snatch and 175kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 307kg to edge Kiribati’s Ruben Katoatau and Australia’s number one weightlifter Brandon Wakeling.
“For this tournament, there was definitely no target because initially we thought that I was competing tomorrow (today) but then we found out that it was Friday instead (due to a change in the competition schedule) so I had to diet and not eat for like two-days to meet the weight,” said Hafifi.
Besides Hafifi, Muhammad Azroy Hazal Wafie and Muhammad Zaidi Mohd Nordin also excelled as they snatched gold and silver medals respectively.
Azroy, who represented Malaysia at the 2016 Rio Olympics, edged Fiji’s Manueli Tulo and Elson Brechtefeld of Nauru, into second and third places respectively.
The 23-year-old recorded a lift of 106kg in the snatch and 132kg in the clean and jerk for a 238kg total.
In the 62kg category, Kelantanese Zaidi placed second with a 14kg deficit from 2016 Oceania Weightlifting Championship victor Morea Baru from Papua New Guinea.
Baru recorded 115kg in the snatch and 160kg in the clean and jerk for a 275kg total while 2016 Malaysia Games gold medallist Zaidi lifted 111kg in the snatch and 150kg in the clean and jerk for a 261kg total.
New Zealand’s Ianne Guinares was third (259kg). Farah Azharie