Emma and Siti Zalina gear up for clash against giants in final

DYNAMIC duo Emma Firyana Saroji-Siti Zalina Ahmad are one step away from rolling down lawn bowls’ first gold medal.

They fought their way to the final by defeating Canada’s Leanne Chinery and Kelly Mckerihen 15-8 in the women’s pairs at the Broadbeach Lawn Bowls Centre yesterday.

Emma and Siti had beaten India’s Rupa Rani Tirkey and Lovely Choubey 17-11 in the quarter-finals.

The Malaysians will face defending champions South Africa in the gold-medal match.

South Africans Nicolene Neal and Colleen Piketh defeated Scotland’s Lesley Doig and Claire Johnston 18-10 in the semi-finals.

The 31-year-old Emma was happy to make the final after crashing out in the singles quarter-finals on Saturday.

“I was frustrated after the singles defeat and I vow to make a comeback with Siti in the pairs,” said Emma.

“We’re up against the defending champions but nothing is going to stop us from winning.”

Veteran Siti, who has been competing in her sixth Commonwealth Games since 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, said they were physically and men- tally ready for the final.

“Emma and I have been consistent but tomorrow we have to take the lead by putting pressure on the South Africans,” said Zalina.

In the men’s competition, Muhd Soufi Rosli failed to reach the semi-finals after going down to Scotland’s Darren Burnett 21-13 in the quarter-finals.

The fours of Mohd Syamil Syazwan Ramli, Zulhilmie Redzuan, Muhd Hizlee Abdul Rais and Fairul Izwan Abdul Muin gave a good fight to Scotland’s Ronald Duncan, Derek Oliver, Paul Foster and Azlexander Marshall before going down 13-12 in the quarter-finals.