The Star Malaysia

Natasha thanks her lucky stars after squeezing into eliminatio­n round

- By R. KIRUBASHIN­I

PETALING JAYA: National bowler Natasha Roslan was left thanking her lucky stars after squeezing into the women’s singles top 16 eliminatio­n round of the IBF World Cup.

Natasha only managed to win two out of her five matches in Group D at the Suncity Tenpin Bowl in Queensland, Australia, yesterday but it was enough for her to finish fourth and take her through to the knockout rounds.

A good start which had seen her win five out of five matches helped her in the end to qualify for the next round with 24 points from 15 games.

Yesterday, Natasha beat Singapore’s

Colleen Pee (220-193) and Australia’s Sarah Young (237-180) but lost to Stefanie Johnson of the United States (236-237), homester Bek Martin (207215) and the Philippine­s’ Krizziah Macatula (196-203).

Despite the narrow escape, Natasha was satisfied with her performanc­e.

‘’I feel that I bowled well and my scores are almost the same as the leader, Stefanie, but unfortunat­ely, this tournament only focuses on points. With a little bit of luck, I managed to qualify for the round of 16. Moving forward, I want to improve my mental game,” said Natasha.

The other Malaysians to make it to the eliminatio­n rounds were Sin Li Jane and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman.

Safiyah continued her superb form by winning all five of her matches yesterday to finish top of Group C with 36 points from 15 games.

She beat Australia’s Melonie Lister (207-168), Danielle Mcewan of the United States (221-202), Sweden’s Anna Anderson (215195), homester Grace Fahy (196190) and Germany’s Janin Rigbuth (211-199).

“Today (Yesterday) was great as I won all my matches. I struggled a bit here and there but managed to cope when I needed to strike.

“After this, I just need to focus a bit more on my shots and try to make good shots every time,” said a pleased Safiyah.

Li Jane was also happy with her performanc­e after finishing second in Group A with 28 points.

She won four and drew one of her matches yesterday.

Li Jane got the better of the Philippine­s’ Lara Posadas (233-226), Germany’s Sabrina Laub (199-145), Singapore’s Shayna Ng (245-227), Sweden’s Cajsa Wegner (255-238) and drew with homester Christine Rota (213-213).

“I’m feeling good about my performanc­es so far and I’m happy that I made it to the next round,” said Li Jane.

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