Sharon prevails in nail-biting contest to nail her fourth crown

SUBANG JAYA: Never rule out veteran Sharon Koh when it comes to the National Bowling Championships.

The 32-year-old southpaw proved once again she’s the best in the country – for a fourth time – after pipping Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi to the women’s Open crown at the Sunway Mega Lanes yesterday.

The pulsating final was as close it could get with Sharon prevailing with a strike against Syaidatul’s nine pins in a one-ball tie-breaker, after the contest ended up in a draw twice – 188-188 after the regulation play and 40-40 in the two extra frames (on ninth and 10th frame) replay.

The win made Sharon, also the champion in 2005, 2008 and 2015, the second most successful bowler behind Shalin Zulkifli with five titles.

Sharon was delighted over her narrow win that came with RM3,000

prize money.

“I was so ‘kancheong’ (nervous in Cantonese), but I’m so glad it’s over!” said Sharon.

“This is the closest-fought match of my career. I’ve never drawn twice in a bowling match play.

“It feels great to win again as I’ve been struggling for quite some time. Hard work and perseverance do pay off,” she said.

Sharon made it to the stepladder finals as the top seed after winning the 10-game first round with a 2,078

pinfalls total and was joined by Natasha Roslan ( 2,068) and Syaidatul (2,027) in the elimination round.

Syaidatul beat defending champion Natasha 197-191 in the semi-final, ending the latter’s hopes of completing a hattrick of titles.

The day certainly belonged to lefties as Rafiq Ismail ruled the men’s competition by defeating teammate Timmy Tan 208-179 for his second national crown.

It was the third final in four years for the two best buddies. Rafiq triumphed in 2015 while Timmy won it a year later.

“It’s not so close this time, I lost to Timmy by just one pin (223-224) two years ago,” said Rafiq.

“I really enjoyed our friendly rivalry. Timmy is always tough to beat.

“I’m absolutely delighted to win my first title this year. It’s as good as winning an international title because I had to overcome a worldclass field to become a champion today.

“This victory is also redemption for me as I failed to even qualify for the tournament proper last year. In fact, I almost missed it again this year. I made the (top 16) cut in the second last place!”

Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek, the 2013 champion, settled for third after he was beaten 196-223 by Timmy in the semi-final. Last year’s champion Kang Bo Long only managed 11th.