Mohd Hafifi Mansor is tipped for the 69kg gold in the Commonwealth Games. Pic by Hasriyasyah Sabudin
The 24-year-old, who took bronze in Delhi, has been widely tipped to emerge victorious in the 69kg division and now has added incentive to succeed in Scotland as the National Sports Council (NSC) has promised to give his Indonesian coach Lukman a long-term contract if he succeeds.
Mohd Hafifi, who over the past few years lamented a lack of quality coaches in Malaysia, was assigned to work with the former Indonesia elite coach earlier this year and has been training with him in Balikpapan since February.
Lukman is a respected figure in his country, having guided Triyanto, who also competes in the 69kg class, to a silver medal at the London Olympics and bronze at the Beijing Games.
“At the moment, NSC has given him (Lukman) a three-month contract.
“They (NSC) want to see how I perform in Glasgow and will allow me to continue with him if I do well,” said Mohd Hafifi.
“I do feel the pressure of having to win gold in Scotland but this is, nevertheless, great motivation for me as I was the one who really wanted to work with Lukman.
“He is an Olympic class coach who has great techniques.
“I have been lifting for more than 10 years and thought I had seen it all but he has taught me a lot of new things.
“I have been with him for about six months now and have already managed to improve my lifts by about 15kg.”
Lukman officially ended his role with the Indonesian national squad at the end of May, citing a lack of support from the national body.
MWF has already stated its interest in roping in Lukman permanently, where he can work with the whole elite squad once he is based in Malaysia.
By Fadhli Ishak - NST
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