A FEW wrong calls proved costly for lawn bowler Fairul Izwan Abdul Muin.
Fairul had the match in his grasp as he held the lead in the first 15 ends in the singles semi-finals.
But mistakes crept into his game which led to his opponent, Gary Kelly from Northern Ireland, to stage a grand comeback.
The Malaysian thus failed to enter the final losing 15-21 in 20 ends.
The 39-year-old Fairul was imperious from the start when he took a 4-0 lead but it was neck-and-neck from then on as Kelly fought back to reduce the deficit at 13-14 with Fairul hanging on to the lead.
The Irishman then turned up the heat and there was no looking back as he raced to pick up eight points as Fairul could only muster one additional point.
Kelly will face Australia’s Aaron Wilson for the gold while Fairul will take on Scotland’s Ian McLean in the bronze-medal match.
Coach Zuraidi Puteh revealed that Fairul’s game was undone by a few mistakes.
“Fairul did well if you ask me, but towards the end, the mistakes affected him. And Kelly was no different, I guess whoever commits fewer errors wins. That’s why Kelly won.
“Plus, Kelly has vast experience in the Commonwealth Games, so he is a tough nut to crack.
“We were close to the gold, but it didn’t happen.
“We will learn and be stronger in the years to come.”
Meanwhile, the doubles pair of Siti Zalina Ahmad-Emma Firyana Saroji lost 15-20 to New Zealand’s Selina Goddard-Katelyn Inch in the bronze playoff.
