Bowlers on the brink of total failure at world youth meet

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian bowlers are staring at the prospects of returning empty-handed from the World Youth Championships.

After four events over the last two days, the eight-member squad have yet to win a medal as they flopped in the doubles events which ended on Monday in Detroit, Michigan. Earlier, they did not win any medals in the boys’ and girls’ singles events.

Rafiq Ismail and Tun Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam failed to retain their boys’ doubles silver won in Las Vegas, two years ago. They managed a dismal 39th place out of 67 pairs with a 12-game total of 2,365 pinfalls.

Their teammates Brandon TingSharukh Amin Zulkifli also failed to shine, finishing 19th with a 2,489 total.

Robert Lindberg-Alfred Berggren of Sweden crushed Australia’s Jayden Panella- Blayne Flethcer 479-383 in the two-game final to take the gold.

There was no joy either in the girls’ doubles when Nur Syazwani Sahar- Gillian Lim and Nur Ameerahusna Aznel-Nur Amirah Auni Azman came in 11th (2,497) and 17th (2,399) respectively in the 42-pair contest.

Paola Limon-Raquel Orozco of Mexico pipped American pair Taylor Bailey-Breanna Clemmer 433-420 to claim the gold.

Malaysia’s hopes lie on the boys’ and girls’ team events next. In the Masters, only Syazwani is in the running to qualify for the girls’ event.

Team manager Maradona Chok says all is not lost yet.

“Our goal is to win a medal in the team events. Hopefully, the players can pull themselves together and deliver,” said Maradona.

“The coaches are trying to get them to relax and not to put undue pressure on themselves. They were frustrated when they failed to get the strikes. It affected their game.”

Two years ago, the team swept a medal haul of 1-2-3 to finish third overall behind powerhouses the United States and South Korea.

The last time Malaysia failed to win a single medal was in Pattaya, Thailand, in 2002.