Deja vu as girls let golden chance slip away

MALAYSIA’S Nur Syazwani Sahar, Gillian Lim and twins, Nurul Ayunni and Nurul Alyssa Junaidi squandered a 243-pin lead as they painfully settled for the bronze medal in the girls’ team event at the Asian Youth Championships in Kuching yesterday.

To add salt to the wound, it was a repeat of what had happened two years ago in Manila when Singapore came from behind to clinch the title.

Having amassed a 12-game total of 2,518 pinfalls in the first block on Monday, the Malaysian team could not maintain their form, eventually finishing on 4,617.

Three members from the previous winning team, Charlene Lim, Jermain Seah and Amabel Chua, along with Charmaine Chang successfully defended the gold for Singapore with a 4,664 total.

South Korea took the silver on 4,628.

“I’m lost for words,” said team manager Robert Lu yesterday.

“We failed to ride on our momentum after the first block but you must give Singapore credit.

“They were the better team. They came back from behind to grab the gold from us, just like they did two years ago in Manila.

“They still had three members from the previous winning squad, so experience also counts.”

There was more heartache for the Malaysian camp as the boys’ team of Shahrukh Amin Zulkifli, Syazirol Shamsuddin, Nevern N Marcellinus and Hafiz Zainuddin, who started the second block in second place, finished emptyhanded.

They reeled in 4,780 pinfalls for the fifth spot.

Brandon Ong, Eugene Yeo, Xavier Teo and Jomond Chia completed the double for Singapore when they amassed 5,123 pinfalls, followed by the Philippines (4,996) and Korea (4,979).

If there was any consolation, Malaysia added two more silver to their overall haul through Hafiz and Gillian in the boys and girls’ all-events.

The two along with Nur Syazwani, Ayunni, Alyssa, Nevern and Shahrukh all made the top-16 cut for the boys and girls’ masters event today.