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Erry earns silver in Tashkent

The national weightlifting squad capped their campaign at the Uzbekistan World Championships-cum-Commonwealth Championships by adding one last medal to their haul on Friday.

Erry Hidayat managed 136kg for the snatch and 165kg for the clean and jerk (301kg total) which placed him 12th in the men's Under-73kg World Championship category but it was enough to see him come in second (for silver) among Commonwealth lifters in his division.

Malaysia ended the competition with one world championship silver medal (Aniq Kasdan), two Commonwealth Championship gold (Aniq, Aznil Bidin) and one Commonwealth Championship silver (Erry).

Though pleased with the trio's overall performance, national coach Naharudin Mahayudin admitted he was hoping for more from Erry.

"We fell a bit short on our target to win gold in Erry's (Commonwealth) category. It was a bit disappointing as we were hoping that he could secure automatic qualification for Birmingham," said Naharudin when contacted in Tashkent.

"Silver, however, is still a good achievement for Erry and hopefully he will continue to improve.

"With Aniq and Aznil, both of them achieved the targets that had been set for them.

"Aniq not only won gold in his Commonwealth class but also secured a silver in the World Championship category which is an historic achievement.

"He is the only Malaysian weightlifting athlete who has won a world championship medal."

Aniq, who competed in the under-55kg class, had also set a new national record.

Both he and Aznil (under-61kg) have subsequently confirmed their slots at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games next year by virtue of winning gold.

Erry will have another shot to confirm his Birmingham slot at the regional (Asia) Commonwealth Games qualifying tournament which is expected to be held in Singapore in February.

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