A FLUSH STRIKE
High-flying national bowlers enjoy trophy-laden year
FABIAN PETER fabian.mark@nstp.com.my
BOWLING made Malaysia proud with a string of titles this year. With so much at stake, the national bowlers won countless events and also recorded several significant firsts to consolidate Malaysia’s position as one of the best in the sport.
Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman and Sin Li Jane completed the season as the top two ranked Asian bowlers in the women’s category while Rafiq Ismail was placed second overall in the men’s rankings.
Looking back at the successes, it all started in March when Siti Safiyah took third at the Emir Cup in Qatar.
Former national bowler Zulmazran Zulkifli edged compatriot Rafiq to win the Thailand Open, while Li Jane came out tops in the ABF Tour’s Thailand leg, both in April.
June was a special month for Malaysian bowling
Rafiq, a left-handed bowler, started the ball rolling by claiming his first title of the year at the Singapore Open.
Siti Safiyah and Li Jane then created history by becoming the first Malaysian winners on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour in the United States.
Siti Safiyah overcame Li Jane to win the Wichita Open. However, Li Jane made amends by dethroning several established bowlers for the Lincoln Open crown.
Syafiq Ridhwan Abd Malek and Radin Nur Najwa then recorded a sweet double by winning the men’s and women’s titles at the Macau Open before Adrian Ang bagged the Macau leg of the ABF Tour.
One of the main highlights of the year was the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games in August.
Expectations were high but the bowlers performed well for a ‘magical’ haul of seven gold, four silver and three bronze medals.
Rafiq won the men's singles and masters gold along with the mixed doubles title (with Li Jane).
Veteran Alex Liew and Syafiq took the men’s doubles gold while Esther Cheah, Shalin Zulkifli and Li Jane won the women’s trios event ahead of Singapore.
Malaysia also won the women’s team and masters (through Shalin) events.
In November, Siti Safiyah finished second in the women’s event while Ahmad Muaz Fishol won bronze in the men’s category at the AMF Bowling World Cup in Hermosillo, Mexico.
While the World Cup was going on, Rafiq, Syafiq, Alex, Adrian, Shalin and Timmy Tan were competing at the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) World Series of Bowling Tour in the US. Although, none won titles, the bowlers showed promise in the tour.
Rafiq and Adrian each made the match play round while the former was selected to represent the Rest of the World team against the US.
The stint was part of the preparations for the World Championships in Las Vegas.
Malaysia recorded their bestever haul of one gold (women’s team) and three silver (women’s doubles, masters and all-events) at the world meet.
With the fine performances in 2017, the nation can expect the bowlers to produce better results next season with the Asian Games in Indonesia being the priority.