Syaidatul switches focus to individual event

WITH the team events done and dust ed, bowler Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamid di is switching her attention to individual glory next.

The 26-year-old has qualified for today’s Masters at the Jakabaring Bowling Centre in Palembang after r taking the top spot in the women’s All-Events to prove that she is the best individual performer of the Games.

Syaidatul, who won gold in trios and silver in the team of six, amassed a 12-game score of 2,918 pinfalls, with an impressive average of 243.17.

Medals are not offered for the All-Events this time, otherwise Malaysia could have added another gold to their medal tally.

Indonesia’s Nadia Pramanik came in second with 2,862 total while South Korea’s Lee Na-young was third on 2,841.

Natasha Roslan will join Syaidatul for the Masters after she chalked up 2,828 pinfalls to be the second best-placed Malaysian in fourth in the All-Events.

Besides Syaidatul and Natasha, Malaysia also had three others in the top 10 – Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman (2,805, fifth), Shalin Zulkifli (2,761, ninth) and Esther Cheah (2,737, 10th) but a country can only have maximum of two representatives in the Masters. Syaidatul is seeking to emulate Shalin’s feat at the 2002 Busan Games. Shalin beat compatriot Lai Kin Ngoh for the gold to become the only Malaysian winner of the event.

“I’ve been doing well on the medium and long oil patterns, so I’m quite confident of carrying the momentum into the Masters,” said Syaidatul.

“There are no medals in All-Events but it still means a lot as I’ve never finished top in the this event before.

“I’m the best individual bowler of the Games based on the All-Events but I would like to justify it further by winning the Masters.”

Syaidatul has only two individual titles to her name — the Malaysian Open in 2016 and Kuala Lumpur Open in 2015.

“I’ve not many individual titles to show in my career, so this is a good chance to improve on my individual medal collection. Wining the Masters Asiad gold will be the best-ever individual achievement,” said Syaidatul.

Natasha aims for her second Masters title after winning at the World Youth Championships in Las Vegas in 2016.

“It has been a great debut, but I hope to make it even more memorable with a podium finish,” said Natasha.