MASTERFUL DAY
Tun Ameerul, Puteri Nurul strike for Malaysia
THERE was double joy for Malaysia as the curtains came down on the Asian Schools Bowling Championships in Kuching yesterday when Tun Ameerul Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam and Puteri Nurul Dini Faudzi bagged the boys' and girls' Masters gold medals.
While Malaysia won all the gold medals on offer in the girls’ category, second seed Tun Ameerul broke the duck for the boys when he edged top seed Alex Yu of Hong Kong 470-386 (269-205, 201-181).
In the first match of the stepladder finals, Tun Ameerul defeated third seed Shoumick Datta of India 279-237.
Earlier, Tun Ameerul amassed a 16-game total of 3,685 pinfalls in the Masters rounds to take second position.
In the girls’ Masters final, top seed Nurul Dini capped her week with a brilliant 458-369 (207-176, 251-193) win over Singapore's Fione Liew.
Singaporean Fiona Yew settled for the bronze after going down 176-158 to compatriot Fione in the first match of the stepladder finals .
In the Masters round, Nurul Dini topped it with a 3,395 series.
"I still can't believe that I won today because I came into this tournament not expecting much,” said Nurul Dini, who also won the doubles, team and all events titles, yesterday.
“Qualifying for the Masters final was already a huge achievement. I would like to thank my coaches (Wendy Chai and Bong Kihow) for guiding me throughout the competition, and also my teammates for supporting me.
“It is my best career performance. I just took things patiently and focused on every throw in this tournament.”
Malaysia emerged as the overall champions with a haul of six gold, six silver and two bronze.