PETALING JAYA: The future of Malaysian bowling remains bright despite the juniors falling short of adding another medal to Malaysia’s final tally at the Asian Youth Championships yesterday.
National bowler Qurratu’Ain Izdihar Pozi, 19, was just shy of a podium finish in the girls’ Masters as she finished fourth with 3,453 pins and missed out on the stepladder finals at the Sunway Megalanes.
National youth coach Alex Liew said it was a shame for Qurratu’Ain to have missed the cut, but her performance at the tournament still deserved a pat on the back as she was just 20 pins shy from making it to the top three.
“Qurratu’Ain, who won bronze in the singles, just missed the cut. In the last game, the other player put up a big score to overtake her for third.
“But she has done very well,” said Alex.
South Korea’s Paek Ye-dam went on to win gold after defeating compatriot Lee Da-Eun 454-373 in the stepladder finals.
Meanwhile in the boys’ category, Aiman Syahin Sulaiman was the best finisher for Malaysia by finishing in eighth with 3,550 pinfalls, while compatriot Danial Abu Samah was two spots down with 3,505 pinfalls.
With Mike Ong contributing the boys’ Masters gold, Singapore walked away as overall champions with six golds and one silver medal, while Kuwait were in second with two golds and one silver.
Malaysia finished in fourth place with one gold and four bronzes as South Korea took third, thanks to Ye-dam’s Masters win, as they wrapped up with one gold, seven silver, and two bronze medals.
The gold came from Aiman and Ethan Damien Goh in the boys’ doubles.
Added Alex: “Their fighting spirit was incredible, but they need to improve on their shot-making consistency.”
“The future is bright considering we still have quite a number of players under 19 who can compete in the next Asian and World youth editions.”
