Glitter on the lawn

One for the album: (from left) Zuraini Khalid, Syafiqa Haidar Afif Abdul Rahman, national coach Zuraidi Puteh, team manager Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Zain, Mohd Fairus Abdul Jabal, Mohammad Syamil Syazwan Ramli and a team official posing for a photograph after a fruitful outing at the Asian Open Lawn Bowls Championships in Jiaxing, China, yesterday.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian team had a blast at the just concluded Asian Open Lawn Bowls Championships in Jiaxing, China, after delivering two golds and a bronze.

Syafiqa Haidar Afif Abdul Rahman was in top form to win the women’s singles gold and a bronze in the pairs with Zuraini Khalid.

Syafiqa overcame a strong challenge from Hong Kong’s Shirley Ko to win the women’s singles in sudden death (3-2).

But in the pairs, Syafiqa and Zuraini lost to Shirley Ko and Vivian Yip of Hong Kong 8-12 to settle for the bronze.

Mohd Fairus Abdul Jabal and Mohammad Syamil Syazwan Ramli won Malaysia’s second gold in the men’s pairs by beating China’s Kenneth Yiu-Dicky Mak 16-3 in the final.

Team manager Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Zain said they were impressed with how Syafiqa kept her composure despite facing a stiff challenge from Shirley.

“The men’s pairs of Fairus and Syamil were also in top form to beat the Chinese pair by a convincing margin to win the gold.

“Four golds were offered in the championships (two each in the men’s and women’s singles and pairs).

“Our athletes are on the right track for the Philippines SEA Games, ” said Syed Zainal.

There is no singles event in the Philippines SEA Games and Malaysia will be focusing on the men’s and women’s pairs, triples and fours in the Games.

For the SEA Games, Syafiqa will feature in the fours with Emma Firyana Siroji, Nurul Alyani Jamil and Afiqah Dayana Budiman.

Fairus and Syamil will also compete in the men’s fours at the SEA Games with Muhd Idham Amin and Daeng Dhadyry Dahasry.