Good fight: (From left) Nur Ain Nabilah Tarmizi, Syafiqa Haidar Afif Abdul Rahman and Azlina Arshad showing off their medals. — Bernama
IT’S not the roaring crowd. The English trio were just too darn good.
Malaysia lost another chance to win their first gold in lawn bowls when the triples team of Azlina Arshad, Nur Ain Nabilah Tarmizi and Syafiqa Haidar Afif Abdul Rahman went down 9-17 to home favourites Jamie Winch, Natalie Chestney and Sian Honnor at the Victoria Park in Leamington Spa on Friday.
The English bowlers got their lines and plans right from the get-go.
The park was packed with the home crowd but Azlina was not intimidated.
“I told my teammates not to think about the crowd. We communicated as much as we could to keep our focus in the game but the England bowlers were just too good,” said the 40-year-old, who won the triples gold at the 2006 Melbourne Games.
“Whatever web we cast, they just found a way to untangle it. They were good and deserved the title.
“At least we are heading home with a medal. We will learn from this and be better in the upcoming competitions.”
The Malaysians gave a good fight, but the English trio shone in front of the home crowd with their superb shots to take a 3-0 lead after the first end and widened the gap with another point in the second end.
From the third to 12th ends, the Malaysians bounced back to take a 9-8 lead, with Azlina proving to be a real cog with her classy shots.
But from end 13 onwards, England stamped their class as they collected nine points and sealed the gold.
Earlier on Friday, the Malaysian trio had beaten New Zealand’s Val Smith, Tayla Bruce and Nicole Toomey 16-9 in the semi-finals.
Nur Ain admitted that the jitters got to her during the game, especially when England made a comeback. “The lead we had was good, but England somehow found their groove. When they caught up, we got nervous. We couldn’t collect points, and England kept getting better. We tried to muster a comeback, but it was too late.”
Syafiqa was visibly emotional and said that she had made many sacrifices to get a medal in her first Commonwealth Games.
“I had higher expectations but I’m glad to bring home a medal after years of sacrifice. This medal is a reward for those sacrifices I’ve made in balancing family and sports.”
