Final day flourish
Soufi and Emma capture men and women’s singles golds
THE Malaysia Lawn Bowlss Federation (MLBF) are inn seventh heaven at the Kuala Lumpur Games.
Two more golds from the men and women’s singles on the final day of competition at the National Lawn Bowls Centre in Bukit Kiara yesterday saw Malaysia wrapping up their campaign in style – winning seven out of the total eight golds.
Mohd Soufi Rusli made short work of Singapore’s Lee Yuan Min 21-6 in the men’s singles final.
Emma Firyana Saroji then defeated Brunei’s Amali Matali 21-11 to end Malaysia’s jinx in the women’s singles.
Malaysia have failed to win the women’s singles gold since the sport was introduced in the Brunei Games in 1999.
In the four editions that the sport has been contested, Malaysia only managed three silvers and a bronze.
Saedah Rahim, the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games silver medallist, picked up a silver at Brunei 1999 while twotime Commonwealth Games singles champion Siti Zalina Ahmad won the silver twice – KL 2001 and Korat 2007 – and the bronze once in Manila 2005.
But this time, Emma made sure there would be no more heartache.
The 2015 World Champion of Champions singles was also undefeated in all her round-rob- in matches – beating Thailand’s Nuanphak Ariyapattanaporn 21-11, Filipina Margie Ortilano 21-19, Brunei’s Amali 21-7 and Singapore’s Tham Mee Kim 21-19.
Soufi too breathed a huge sigh of relief after enduring a shaky start, including losing to Filipino Elmer Abatayo (13-21) in the round-robin stage.
The 2017 World Cup singles silver medal winner was staring at an early exit when he found himself trailing Brunei’s Abdul Rahman Omar 15-20 in the final round-robin match on Saturday. Luckily Soufi managed to draw level at 20-20 before going on to clinch the final point (21-20).
“I’ve had sleepless nights because of my unpredictable form. I sought help from the ISN (National Sports Institute) people to help me to relax. I was so nervous and afraid because both our men’s pairs and triples had won gold earlier. The pressure was on me to deliver.
“Although I did not feel so much pressure compared to the World Cup singles final early this year, I just didn’t want to lose at home. I’m glad it’s over now,” said Soufi.
This is Malaysia’s biggest gold haul after managing 4-1-1 (1999 Brunei), 5-1-0 (2001 KL), 3-2-1 (Manila 2005) and 4-1-1 (Korat 2007).