Bowl ’em over early!
Li Jane makes solid start at IBF World Cup
PETALING JAYA: National bowler Sin Li Jane got off to a strong start in the IBF World Cup after winning four games in the group stages at the Suncity Tenpin Bowl in Queensland, Australia.
The 30-year-old is currently second in Group A, three points behind leader Sabrina Laub of Germany.
A pumped-up Li Jane won her first game by beating Singapore’s Shayna Ng 257-200 and continued her fine form by upstaging New Zealand’s Christina Rota 234-206 yesterday.
She was given a tougher fight by Sweden’s Cajsa Wegner but the Malaysian stayed solid to beat her opponent by two pins 193-191. However, Li Jane’s winning streak ended in the fourth match, where she lost to United States’ Jordan Richard 180-204.
Li Jane bounced back and ended the day with a win by beating Australia’s Chloe Clague 244-189. She has two more games against leader Laub and the Philippines’ Lara Posadas, which will be held tomorrow.
Only the top two from each group will qualify for the top 16 knockout round. Li Jane is poised for the next stage, as she just needs another win against either Laub or Posadas.
When asked about her outing, Li Jane was glad to have started with the wins.
“It would surely boost my confidence to have such an outing on my first day. Every shot I did today felt good, and I was able to make the right adjustments in all the matches except for the one against Richard,” she said.
“I want to keep this momentum going against Laub and Posadas. My aim is to have a strong finish in the group stages and hopefully, get to the knockout round.
“Coaches did say that a good start would herald something special, so let’s see. But I must stay consistent if I want to achieve big, so the focus will surely be on that!”
Meanwhile, Esther Cheah’s hopes of getting to the next stage vanished after she lost all her five matches in Group B.
The 36-year-old veteran lost to the United States’ Bryanna Cote (206-254), Sweden’s Jenny Wegner (210-214), Germany’s Birgit Noreiks (193-225), Singapore’s New Hui Fen (151-214) and New Zealand’s Dayna Haylock (178-190).
Natasha Roslan and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman will start their group campaigns today.
In the men’s singles event, 2012 World Cup champion Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek and Timmy Tan are in the fourth and eighth placing respectively.
The 36-year-old Syafiq won four matches and lost two in the group stages. He beat the US’ Kyle Troup (216-206), New Zealand’s Ben Pettit (228-213), Singapore’s Jaris Goh (232195) and received one bye, in which he scored 236 pins.
Timmy has won two out of five matches so far and has two more to go.
Rafiq Ismail and Tun Ameerul Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam will start their group campaign today.