JASIN – A total of 123 participants nationwide will participate in the 2022 National Youth, Junior and Senior Weightlifting Championships to be held at the Alamanda Hall here from March 14-19.
Competition chairman Ahmad Janius Abdullah said the tournament will feature 27 men and women’s weight categories.
“The tournament only involved the youth category when it was organised in previous years, but we received many requests from other state weightlifting associations wishing to send their athletes.
“Moreover, this tournament is considered as their preparation for the upcoming 2022 Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Kuala Lumpur,” he told reporters after the coordination meeting of the competition at the Jasin Municipal Council (MPJ) here today.
Elaborating, Ahmad Janius, who is also the Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) vice-president, said the encouraging response was also because most athletes could not compete in any championships due to the implementation of movement restrictions in the past two years.
He said the tournament has also attracted the participation of the youngest lifter, aged 13, while the most senior entry is a 36-year-old. It will also see some retired weightlifters making a comeback.
“We will suggest to the state government and the Melaka State Sports Council (NSC) that if this meet is a success, it could be made into an annual event as a platform to unearth more new talents,” he said.
The teams competing so far include the Malaysian Armed Forces, Police, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak and they will take part in the Youth (Under-17), Junior (Under-21) and Senior (21 and above) categories.
