Malaysia will return to the international events at the ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships after two years of break

The Malaysians could not attend any of the recent international events but the country will return to the competitions at the ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships. Their best hopes will be there in the upcoming event in Tashkent, Uzbekistan including the best Malaysian future talent, Muhammad Rasdenal Haikal. Their U22 team is already in Uzbekistan to arrange the final preparations in the local environment.

Malaysia was planning to send their six best boxers to the 2021 ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships to Dubai but due to the lockdown of the country, their National Federation had to cancel that trip. Their National Cup was held with the participation of 87 male boxers last month and their management used the event as preparation and selection.

The Covid-19 pandemic seriously affected the Malaysians but the country has the strategic plans to compete and prepare to all of the big events in 2022. Their Uzbek head coach, Mr. Rustam Saidov had many difficulties last year but he led training sessions for the team and developed their defensive and tactical skills.

Following the ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships, the Southeast Asian Games is their next target which will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam in May 13-23 and that competition is the most important for the Malaysians in the upcoming months.

The planning date of the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships is June which follows the Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham, England in the end of July. The next multisport event in 2022 is the Asian Games which will take place in Hangzhou, China on September 10-25.

Malaysia hosted two national events in 2021 and their last activity was the National Cup which decided the places for the ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships. Muhammad Abdul Qaiyum Bin Ariffin is a 20-year-old talent who won several titles in his homeland but he achieved only bronze medal at the National Cup last month.

Muhammad Rasdenal Haikal is Malaysia’s biggest future hope who was quarter-finalist already at the Bangkok 2018 ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships. The 20-year-old boxer is a strong hope at the flyweight (51kg) and won all of the national titles in the recent years, furthermore he attended already elite tournaments in 2019.

Ibrahim Sheikh Rahmatullah is Malaysia’s best elite and U22 boxer at the bantamweight (54kg) which is traditionally strong in the country. He earned several national titles in the previous years as junior, youth and elite but Tashkent will be his real debut. Sulaiman Halim Izani also has done strong job in the previous national events and Mr. Rustam Saidov selected him to attend in the ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships.

List of the Malaysian team at the ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships
48kg: Muhammad Abdul Qaiyum Bin Ariffin
51kg: Muhammad Rasdenal Haikal
54kg: Ibrahim Sheikh Rahmatullah
63.5kg: Sulaiman Halim Izani

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