Haiffa and Ilham follow in siblings’ footsteps to glory
PERAI: The decision to follow in their elder siblings footsteps bore fruit for Ilman Nazim Roslim and Haiffa Hazlan as they bagged the 44th Penang Pesta International Bowling Championships’ Under12 boys’ and girls’ titles respectively.
The 12-year-old Haiffa, the younger sister of 2016 Sukma gold medallist Syafique Ikhwan, rolled down 1,051 pins over six games (average 175.2) to bag the top spot at the Mega Bowling Centre here yesterday. The Kuala Lumpur bowler finished ahead of Penang’s Ong Eileen (1,034) and Singapore’s Colleen Pee (977).
“I have four older brothers who are all bowlers, so naturally I picked up the sport as well,” said the youngest among five siblings.
“It is my ambition to become a national bowler. This is my second victory in an Open tournament this year, after winning the Peter Yap Memorial Cup 2016 Under-14 title during the National Championships in March.”
Besides the 21-year-old Syafique, Haiffa’s three other brothers – Izaq Syameer, 26, Irfan Syazmeer, 20, and Haikal Hazlan, 15, all bowl competitively.
Haiffa, who trains under Shalin Zulkifli, intends to utilise her victory in the Penang Pesta meet as a motivator for the final leg of the National Junior Circuit in Petaling Jaya on Dec 19-21, and the subsequent National Circuit Grand Prix Finals.
Her best results in the junior circuit this year were second place finishes in the Perak and Kuala Lumpur legs.
The 11-year-old Ilman Nazim took up bowling after following his older sister Ira Nadhira to the bowling alley. Ira is a 19-year-old junior bowler for Selangor who has won gold medals in the national schools Under-15 and Under-18 age-groups.
Yesterday, Ilman clinched his biggest victory after knocking down 1,110 pins (average 185.0) over six games. He finished 67 pins ahead of second-placed Shaqeem Izwan Teh of Putrajaya (1,043), and Singapore’s Heng Jun Rui (992) in third.
The victory over Shaqeem was also sweet for Ilman as he had finished second behind the Putrajaya bowler during the Milo International Junior All-Stars Under-12 competition in Petaling Jaya last week.
“After coming close in the Milo All-Stars, I am happy to finally bag the Under-12 title here in Penang. I am now aiming for a podium finish in the Under-16 category.”
The Under-16 Finals of the Penang Pesta meet will be held tomorrow.