Adrian wins S’wak International Open
KUCHING: National kegler Adrian Ang overcame the strong challenge of young gun Hafiz Zainuddin to win the Open final of the Sarawak International Open Tenpin Bowling Championship at Magalanes Sarawak Batu Kawa yesterday.
It only took the top seed one game to beat his opponent, a national youth bowler, 224-222 in the stepladder final.
Hafiz, with a handicap of five pins, had performed consistently throughout the tournament and was ranked the fourth seed in the step-ladder final.
The 17-year old registered 210 pinfalls in the quarterfinals to beat national elite bowler Rafiq Ismail ( 172) and MBI’s Ahmad Aidil Abdul Halim (190) to advance to the semi-finals where he defeated national youth bowlers Chong Jun Foo (197) and Ameerul Luqman Al Hakim (178) with his score of 210 pinfalls.
The third placing in the Open was won by Ameerul.
Adrian received RM18,000, the challenge trophy and the champion’s trophy while Hafiz received RM10,000 plus a trophy and Ameerul walked away with RM5,000 and trophy.
29-yearoldAdrian,whodedicated his victory to his daughter Aurelia who was born on July 24 and his wife who was a pillar of support, said he was happy to win the Open title and that Sarawak was a good hunting ground for the national elite and youth teams.
“This win cannot be expected, I just did my best and focused on my game,” said Adrian who won the men’s singles silver and men’s doubles silver with Rafiq at the recent SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.
He admitted it was tough beating Hafiz and he was happy to compete with the national youth bowlers who are improving all the time.
A member of the ISN Podium programme, Adrian’s next target is to represent the country and win a medal in the World Championships in Las Vegas, US in November.
Meanwhi le, bowlers from Singapore swept the Youth Masters and Classified Masters titles.
Ahmad Safwan knocked down 1,885 pins over eight games in the Youth Masters final while Malaysia’s Muhammad Razydan Ismail, who represented Kuala Lumpur, finished in second spot with 1,863 pins and Amateur Tenpin Bowling Association of Sarawak ( Abas) bowler Mohd Uzair Irsyad Noor Azrul was third with his score of 1,853 pins.
Nikhi l Gangaran took the Classified Masters title after he posted a total of 2,302 pins over eight games to beat ex- national youth, ex- Sarawak Sukma bowler and Asian Youth champion Chong Jun Foo ( 2,190 pins) and Haziq Sahli (2,179 pins).
Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, who closed the event, gave away the prizes together with Assistant Youth and Sports Minister Snowdan Lawan and Sarawak Sports Corporation chief executive officer Dr Ong Kong Swee.
Also present were Abas deputy president Saifulbahri Shukri and vice president Robert Lu.