PETALING JAYA: Policewoman Emma Firyana Saroji kept her composure in check to gun down a historic gold medal for Malaysia in the Bowls World Cup at Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara today (Nov 8).
The 39-year-old kept her cool to beat England's representative Katherine Rednall 2-0 in a gripping women's singles final yesterday.
Emma did not just atone for the defeat to the same opponent in the group stage earlier this week but also presented the country with its first gold in the prestigious tournament, thus fulfilling the target of the president of the Malaysia Lawn Bowls Federation Datuk Awalan Abdul Aziz.
The final action was intense from the beginning as Emma and Rednall drew the first set.
But it was Emma's calmness and experience at the crucial moments that proved decisive for the Selangor-born bowler to pull through 5-5, 6-5.
Emma, who shed tears of joy after the match, said she got emotional as she needed to prove her worth after two years out of the national team due to injury.
"I was removed from the national team because of inconsistent performances and also injuries.
"This was the stage for me to prove that I am still worthy to be considered for the national team, so winning this will be the highlight of my career as a lawn bowls athlete.
"I needed this win. I had to calm myself down before the last throw," said Emma, the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion in Gold Coast, Australia, in women's doubles with Siti Zalina Ahmad.
Emma's best achievement at the World Cup previously was winning a bronze in the women's singles in 2011.
And there was double joy as Malaysia also clinched the overall World Cup trophy with a total haul of one gold and three bronze medals.
Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple clinched the bronze in the men's singles after he lost 1-2 to Dinesh Kumar of India, who eventually fell 0-2 to Sam Tolchard of England in the final.
The other bronze medals came from Nurul Alyani Jamil (women's singles) and Jariah Zakaria (para women's singles).
