Slight slip in ranking won’t weigh heavily on Aniq

PETALING JAYA: National weightlifter Mohd Aniq Kasdan’s (pic) drop in rankings is not a cause for concern, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.

Aniq, who is in the Road To Gold (RTG) programme, slipped one rung from seventh to eighth in the 61kg category recently.

Hannah said there is no reason to sound any alarm as athletes are still going through their qualifying period for the Paris Olympics from July 26 to Aug 11.

However, she said the most important thing is to ensure the athletes stay injury-free during the process.

“The athletes are still training and going for competitions during the qualification period.

“But for RTG athletes, it is crucial that they do not get injured during this time because I don’t want that setback,” she said when met at a buka puasa event by the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) yesterday.

Hannah added that the ministry has been working with the National Heart Institute (IJN) to ensure athletes are in tip-top condition.

“Experts at IJN have begun looking at our athletes to make sure that they are okay, especially their hearts.

“The first batch of athletes have already gone through the process and are all okay. Now we want to get all the RTG athletes to do it as well.

“This is to make sure when we are in Paris, everyone is healthy and nothing will arise that can affect their performance,” she said.

Aniq, who holds the national record in the 61kg with a total of 296kg set at the International Weightlifting Championships in Qatar last December, said the change in rankings is something that is expected during the qualification period.

He will be preparing to improve on his performance at the upcoming IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand, from April 2-11.

He will need to stay in the top 10 by the end of April to get his ticket to Paris as he aims to add four kilos to his combined lift to make it 300kg.