Amirul-Soufi’s fine run raises lawn bowls’ hopes for final flourish

PETALING JAYA: Will there be another chance for Malaysia to add a medal in the lawn bowls competition?

The signs are positive based on the confident run of Amirul Danial Abdul Rahim-Soufi Rusli in the men’s pairs at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) yesterday.

They have booked their spot in the semi-finals in style by staying unbeaten in the group stage.

The duo extended their perfect run in Glasgow after racking up their fifth straight win in Group A when they beat Guernsey’s Ian Merrien-Jason Greenslade 5-5, 13-1 (1.5-0.5) to top the group.

Only the top teams from each of the four groups make it to the semi-finals.

Amirul-Soufi have improved on Malaysia’s previous result in the lawn bowls men’s pair event as Idham Amin Ramlan-Fairul Izwan Abd Muin had failed to clear the group stage at the 2022 edition in Birmingham.

Joining Malaysia in the semi-finals are Scotland and New Zealand, who emerged top of their respective groups with four wins and a loss each.

Amirul and Soufi opened their group stage campaign with a 2-0 tiebreak victory over Malta’s Troy Lorimer and Shaun James Parnis after the match ended 1-1 on Tuesday.

They followed it up by edging Jersey’s Ross Davis and Malcolm de Sousa 2-1 on Wednesday before securing a comfortable 2-0 win against Niue’s Tifaga Tupuiliu and Keith Papani on Thursday.

Malaysia have won two silvers so far in lawn bowls through the men’s singles and women pairs.