PETALING JAYA: In a cruel twist of fate at the IBF World Championships in Hong Kong, the women’s trios bowling combination of Gillian Lim, Sin Li Jane and Natasha Roslan were eliminated from medal contention by a single point.
The trio finished round two in third place with 14 points – just one point shy of the 15 points needed to advance.
The tragedy of the round lies in the statistics. Malaysia finished with a total of 1,451 pins and a scorching average of 207.29 over seven games.
This performance was statistically superior to the second place qualifier Sweden, who advanced with a lower scratch total of 1,435 and an average of 205.00. However, the championship format rewards points won per match, and despite their pinfall superiority, Malaysia could only secure 14 points while Denmark and Sweden both secured the vital 15 points to lock out the top two spots for the semi-finals.
In the first round, the Malaysian trio were truly on fire, finishing first with 1,516 pins and were favourites to push for another strong outing in the second round.
Only the top 16 pairs from the first round qualify for the next stage. The other Malaysian trio – Nora Lyana Nastasia Norkamal, Adelia Nur Izwan Syazalee and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman – finished 25th with 1,326 pins.
For Gillian, Li Jane and Natasha, the early exit is a bitter pill to swallow, proving that in the World Championships, every single frame and every single point determines the difference between the podium and the exit door.
“It was tough to miss out on only a point. We were disciplined in picking up our spares and we did our best and it’s just one of those days,” said Natasha after the second round.
RESULTS
Women’s trios
First round: 1. Malaysia 1 (Gillian Lim, Sin Li Jane and Natasha Roslan) 1,516 pins, 2. Singapore 2 (Cherie Tan, Daphne Tan and Tay Ning) 1,506, 3. United States 2 (Shannon Pluhowsky, Julia Bond and Jillian Martin) 1,500.
Selected: 25. Malaysia 1 (Nora Lyana Nastasia Norkamal, Adelia Nur Izwan Syazalee and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman) 1,326.
Second round: 1. Denmark 2 (Karen Nielsen, Mika Guldbaek and Megan Gales) 15 pts, 2. Sweden 1 (Nora Johansson, Anna Andersson and Hanna Engberg) 15 pts, 3. Malaysia (Gillian, Li Jane and Natasha) 14 pts
