State junior keglers end year on a high
KUCHING: Sarawak junior keglers ended the year on a high note with a national title in the bag and three other podium finishes in the closing tournament of the year, the Sportexcel- Milo- NSCMTBC National Junior Circuit Grand Prix Finals at Sunway Megalanes, Sunway Pyramid in Selangor from Dec 18 to 19.
Having taken 11 out of 16 slots from the qualifying rounds of the Sarawak and Sabah Legs of the Sportexcel Junior Circuits in previous months, Sarawak left for the Grand Prix finals last Friday.
The Sarawak qualifiers were Lavinia Kho ( Girls U12), Mohd Hanif Irfan Sulhie ( Boys U12), siblings Nur Haziqah Ramli and Nur Hazirah Ramli (Girls Graded), Tsen Fan Yew and Abdul Khadir Haziq Ramli ( Boys Graded), Gillian Lim Siew Giok and Nur Aina Kamalia Abdul Ayub (Girls Open), Mohd Zuhayr Redza Noor Azrul, Muhd Nur Syafiq Mohd Amran and Abang Afiq Yazid Abang Azman ( Boys Open).
“The main concern in having to take part in three major back-to- back tournaments from September are athletes’ injuries and fatigue, physical and mental,” said Amateur Tenpin Bowling Association of Sarawak (Abas) vice president Robert Lu.
He added that the state coaches did a splendid job in ensuring that the athletes were conditioned physically and mentally to endure
The main concern in having to take part in three major back-to-back tournaments from September are athletes’ injuries and fatigue, physical and mental. Robert Lu, Abas vice president
all these and yet performed at peak.
The toast of the team was Nur Aina Kamalia, a member of Sarawak Sukma Elite Squad competing in the Girls Open category.
She had to stave off a spirited Puteri Nurshahira Ahmad Shahridzal from Melaka in two games of the stepladder finals, losing out 199- 204 in the first game but came back strongly in the sudden death playoff to win 216-184.
The form five student from SMK DPHA Gapor, Stampin also ensured her spot in the Malaysian national youth squad with the win.
Fellow Sukma and state elite bowler Abang Afiq Yazid who qualified as the third seed into the Boys Open stepladder semifinals found Muhd Haziq Mohd Redzuan from Kedah a little too hot to handle.
Haziq came out firing with a front six of strikes. Afiq struggled with pin carry and bowed out with a creditable 213 pinfalls effort to Haziq’s 245.
In the Girls Graded, Hazirah qualified for her third stepladder finals in three months when she finished as the second seed after 12 games of the preliminary rounds.
In the semi- finals, she took on third seed Noor Farrah Ain Bakhtiar Effendi and convincingly dispatched the girl from Putrajaya with a score of 234 against 161.
Hazirah moved on to meet top seed, in- form Intan Qistina Tamring of Sabah but her clean game of 192 pinfalls was not enough to beat Intan’s score of 198.
Lavinia Kho, who finished first runner- up in the recent Milo International Junior All- Stars Girls Under-12, was setting her sights to go one better this time round.
After a horrid start in the first day of six games saw her languishing in fifth position.
Psychological intervention was used to improve and prepare her state of mind before the second day of six games.
She put up a gallant fight back and finished off with a total of 2,215 pinfalls to claim first runner-up spot.
The Boys Under-12 saw Mohd Hanif Irfan missing out on a podium finish by 38 pins.