KUALA LUMPUR: Erry Hidayat, who has yet to regain his fitness after a bout with dengue, clinched a bittersweet silver for Malaysia in the weightlifting competition at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday.
Erry cleared 138kg in the snatch and 165kg in the clean and jerk to place second in the men's Under-73kg class on a combined 303kg.
His effort was below his national record of 316kg en route to winning a bronze at the Hanoi Sea Games.
India's Achinta Sheuli took the gold on 313kg (143kg, 170kg), while Canada's Shad Darsigny completed the podium with 298kg (135kg, 163kg).
However, Erry, who contracted dengue two weeks ago, was almost in tears when interviewed after his event.
"I would like to apologise to my father (Hamidon Hidayat) because I had promised him that I would get the gold here," the 23-year-old told Bernama.
"I would also like to apologise to all Malaysian weightlifting fans and my coaches.
"I have yet to fully recover from dengue and felt like I was going to faint after my early lifts today (Sunday), but I tried my best to push on.
"I am grateful to win a medal and not return home empty-handed."
His father, Hidayat, is one of the most famous weightlifters in his heyday. His most memorable outing was winning gold at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile, Marceeta Marlyne Marcus finished ninth in the women's Under-59kg class on 175kg.
Teammates Aniq Kasdan and Aznil Bidin had earlier won the men's Under-55kg and Under-61kg events.
Erry echoed his teammates' sentiments and urged the authorities to reinstate weightlifting as a core sport in Malaysia.
Weightlifting got kicked out from the core sports programme, which enjoys better government support, in 2017 due to doping issues and poor performance.