Always room for inspiration – Hafizuddin shares tale of big lift from idol

PETALING JAYA: Sharing a room with his idol proved to be the perfect inspiration for Hafizuddin Roslin at the Commonwealth Games.

The 22-year-old crowned his debut with gold in the men’s 88kg event, delivering Malaysia’s fourth weightlifting title in just 72 hours at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) Armadillo

Hafizuddin drew his biggest inspiration from roommate Erry Hidayat, whose remarkable comeback to win the men’s 79kg gold after a 12-year wait left a deep impression.

The other titles came from Aniq Kasdan (60kg) and Aznil Bidin (65kg).

The Perlis-born lifter admitted watching Erry finally fulfil his dream of winning Commonwealth gold for his father, Hidayat Hamidon, gave him the extra motivation he needed to produce a golden performance of his own.

Hafizuddin produced a total lift of 345kg in Tuesday’s final to secure Malaysia’s fourth gold medal of the Games.

“My senior and roommate really inspired me after producing an incredible comeback to win gold despite being on the brink of disqualification if he had failed one more lift,” Hafizuddin told the National Sports Council.

He was referring to Erry’s remarkable recovery in the snatch after his first two attempts at 147kg were ruled unsuccessful before he finally cleared the weight on his third attempt.

Hafizuddin nearly suffered the same fate after failing his opening snatch attempt at 160kg.

Fortunately, he bounced back to lift 162kg in the snatch before successfully clearing 183kg in the clean and jerk.

“Honestly, I’m not satisfied because my opening snatch attempt was actually very light. I don’t know what happened. I had already lifted it and was about to stand up, but my hands started shaking and I couldn’t hold it.

“If not, I think I could have put on a better performance because this total is still well below my personal best,” he added.

Hafizuddin’s winning total of 345kg however, was enough to set a new Commonwealth Games record.

Nurul Syazwani Radzi finished sixth in the women’s 63kg event with a total lift of 203kg.