KUALA LUMPUR — Aniq Kasdan’s plans for the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships later this month have been tempered after a fresh injury assessment revealed he is still carrying a tear in his right shoulder tendon.
The 23-year-old Johor-born lifter had hoped to register a 285kg total in the under-60kg category in India to secure automatic qualification for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
But a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan at the National Sports Institute (NSI) three weeks ago confirmed that the injury — first sustained at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in China in May — has yet to heal fully.
Since the diagnosis, Aniq has been undergoing rehabilitation and has received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection to aid recovery, a treatment that typically takes several weeks before results are noticeable.
“Right now I’m only lifting about 85kg for the snatch and about 110kg for the clean and jerk in training. I’m not pushing myself too much since the scan revealed I still have a tear,” Aniq told Scoop.
“I’ll still make the trip to India and do the bare minimum. My main focus is the World Championships in Norway in October. If I do well there, I can still qualify for the Commonwealth Games next year.
“Either way, there will be one more qualifying competition for the Games next year. My priority now is to get in shape for the World Championships, and after that the Bangkok SEA Games.”
Aniq had voiced concerns about his condition as early as June, admitting he had been unable to train at full capacity since the injury.
At the time, he believed a 285kg total — 125kg in the snatch and 160–165kg in the clean and jerk — would be enough to secure gold and seal his place in Glasgow.
At the Asian Championships, he set a new national snatch record of 132kg but failed all three attempts at 163kg in the clean and jerk, missing out on a podium finish. His previous best in the snatch was 130kg, achieved at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he came agonisingly close to clinching bronze.
Aniq is the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, but in the previous under-61kg discipline, having won gold in Birmingham in 2022, and also claimed victory at last year’s Commonwealth Championships in Fiji — although that event was not part of the qualification pathway.
This year’s Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, scheduled from August 24–30, will feature the revised under-60kg category. With Aniq now unlikely to mount a full challenge, the meet will instead serve as a tune-up in his bid to return to peak condition. — August 11, 2025