PETALING JAYA: Perlis bowler Zureen Alyssa Qaisara had already felt the pins and needles before making her debut at the Malaysia Games (Sukma).
The 16-year-old had been nursing a serious right shoulder injury before the competition began.
And that pain only toughened her up when she fought back from behind to win the women’s Masters gold medal at the Sunway Megalanes in Subang Jaya on Saturday (Aug 22).
In the final Zureen lost the opening game 160-223 to Sarawak’s Lavinia Kho.
She then bounced back to win the second game 246-215 before taking the decider 211-194 to seal the gold with a 2-1 victory.
The victory was a sweet one for Zureen after what she had to endure before the competition.
"Before coming to the Sukma, I had been overusing my arm and ended up getting injured, so it has been quite challenging for me.
"I tried to put the pain aside and just focus on competing over the past few days,” said Zureen.
"I can still feel the pain, but I just try to bear with it. I only think about one frame at a time and try to do my best in every frame.''
More impressively, Zureen had earlier knocked out world junior champion Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee of Selangor 2-1 in the semi-finals.
Adelia, however, recovered to claim the bronze medal after beating Sarawak’s Nur Fathi Fatihah Zakry 2-0 in the playoff.
Zureen’s victory also made her Perlis’ second gold medallist at this Sukma, after teammate Nurul Aisyah Salleh made history by winning the women’s singles, which was the state’s first-ever bowling gold at the Games.
It was a significant achievement for Perlis to finish with two gold medals, considering the state are not among the traditional powerhouses in Malaysian bowling.
Meanwhile, Ethan Damien Goh made up for the disappointment of his Sukma debut two years ago by winning the men’s Masters gold medal.
The final was a nerve-racking affair for Ethan, as it was the first time he had reached the Masters final.
The 16-year-old managed to keep his nerves in check before beating fellow Sarawakian Israq Iqbal Ramadhan 247-209, 245-210 for a comfortable 2-0 victory.
It was a proud achievement for Ethan, who had only managed to win gold in the team event on his Sukma debut in Sarawak two years ago.
"This year is way better," said Ethan.
"I trained every day and kept working on the weak areas in my bowling."
Although Sarawak were already assured of the gold once Ethan and Israq reached the final, Ethan said both of them were still determined to finish on top.
"Both of us wanted to win the gold. Personally, I just wanted to do my best. Even if I lost, at least I wanted to go down fighting.
"I just took a few deep breaths, focused on what was in front of me and didn’t care about what was behind," added Ethan.
Pahang’s Mohd Danial Abu Samah took the bronze after beating Terengganu’s Wan Muhammad Zarif Ikram Wan Mazlan 247-181, 215-169.
Ethan’s victory also saw Sarawak finish their Sukma campaign with three gold medals.
Israq had earlier won the men’s singles title, while he and Ethan were also part of the gold medal-winning team of five alongside Qaishy Rayyan, Akmal Hakim and Eldred Kho.
