Nat's our girl!
Bowler ends eight-year wait for World Youth meet gold
Malaysian bowling s eight-year ait for world outh hampionships gold medal is finally over. Natasha Roslan (pic) has bagged the girls Masters crown at the Sun Valley Lanes in Nebraska, the Unite States, on Tuesday. The 20-year-old triumphed 190-158, 236-245, 227-187 against Singapore's mabel Chua in the best-of-three final.
The eight-year wait for a World Youth Championships gold medal is finally over.
Natasha Roslan has bagged the girls’ Masters crown at the Sun Valley Lanes in Nebraska, the United States, on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old triumphed 190158, 236-245, 227-187 against Singapore’s Amabel Chua in the best-of-three final.
Natasha had earlier registered impressive wins over Lee Yeongseung in the quarter-finals and defending champion Mirai Ishimoto in the semi-finals.
The last time Malaysia tasted success at the championships was in 2008, with Aaron Kong securing a double in Orlando, also in the US.
Then, Aaron teamed up with Adrian Ang, Muhd Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek and Muhd Nur Aiman Khairuddin to win the team gold before going on to lift the boys’ Masters crown.
“I’m so happy ... no words can describe how happy I am right now,” enthused Natasha in a telephone interview from Nebraska.
“In Hong Kong two years ago, I failed to win to a single medal. So, I came here with the aim of winning a medal of any colour ... as long as I don’t return home empty-handed. When I won a bronze in the team event, it was sort of like mission accomplished.
“I certainly didn’t think I could go all the way to capture the Masters gold!”
Natasha has been in impressive form this year, having won also the national championship in March.
“It has been really a fantastic year for me so far. Hopefully, there’s more to come,” she said.
Malaysia added another bronze through Tun Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam in the boys’ Masters.
The 17-year-old debutant’s gallant run ended with a 161-233, 205221 loss to Sweden’s Pontus Andersson in the semi-final.
“I’m satisfied with my performance this week. A silver (with Rafiq Ismail in the boys’ doubles) and a bronze on my debut ... this has to be my best performance this year,” said the Thailand Open youth champion.
Malaysia’s overall medal tally of 1-2-3 placed them third behind the ever-dominant Americans (6-3-4) and South Korea (2-1-0).
Malaysian team manager Maradona Chok was delighted with the team’s efforts.
“It has been a dream week for us ... the team came and delivered. I’m very proud of the team ... they fought from day one to the very end and a deserving gold by Natasha to cap it all.”