KUALA LUMPUR − Despite not striking gold, the Malaysian bowling squad still deserve a pat on their backs following their achievement to “spare” a silver and bronze each in the recently concluded International Bowling Federation (IBF) World Championships in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Team manager Maradona Chok said his charges had a good outing in Dubai albeit only having less than two months to prepare and being out of competition for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our competitive sharpness was lacking but we made all the quarterfinals in all the events − only one other team, the United States, achieved that − so, it was a good outing,” he told Bernama when contacted today.
Maradona was also pleased to see the young keglers “rock and bowl” throughout the tournament despite having much to learn to set the lanes ablaze in the next round of competitions.
When asked what the bowlers needed to do to improve, Maradona said they must sharpen up to produce shots when under pressure.
The women’s team, comprising Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman, Natasha Mohamed Roslan, Nur Syazwani Sahar and Faten Najihah Ahmad Faik, missed out on the title after losing to the USA in the final held at the Sports, Fitness and Wellbeing Hub at Expo 2020 Dubai late Monday.
The national team won the first game 190-170 against Missy Parkin, Jordan Richard, Danielle McEwan and Kelly Kulick but the USA bounced back to win the second tie 171-215 before securing the gold medal with a 40-38 win in the tiebreaker.
The ladies advanced to the final after ousting the Philippines 203-183 in the semi-finals and Germany 235-199 in the last eight stage.
Meanwhile, the men’s team made up of former world champion Muhammad Rafiq Ismail, Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek, Tun Ameerul Luqman Al-Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam and Muhammad Syazirol Shamsudin settled for bronze after losing in the last four stage.
They went down 184-299 against eventual champions South Korea in the semi-finals, after eliminating USA 279-258 in the quarterfinals. The South Koreans took the crown after defeating Singapore 196-136, 248-198.
The national men’s and women’s singles, doubles and trios had all failed to get past the quarterfinal stage since the competition rolled out on November 6.
In the meantime, Maradona said they are still unsure as to the next tournaments they will participate in and expect the closest one to be the 2022 SEA Games, slated to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam, next May. – Bernama, November 17, 2021
