PETALING JAYA, Aug 24 — Malaysia defended the women’s team gold in the bowling competition in the SEA Games today.
In the final at the Sunway Mega Lanes here, national bowlers Shalin Zulkifli, Esther Cheah Mei Lan, Natasha Roslan, Sin Li Jane, Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman downed 6,264 pins overall, overcoming Singapore’s team who amassed 6,203 pins.
The first block comprised Shalin-Esther Cheah-Natasha-Sin Li Jane-Syaidatul Afifah but national coach Holloway Cheah substituted Natasha with Siti Safiyah Amirah from the second.
The Singaporean team comprised Bernice Lim-Cherie Tan-Daphne Tan-New Hui Fen-Shayna Ng.
The combination of Dyan Coronacion-Krizziah Lyn Tabora-Maria Liza Del Rosario-Marian Lara Posada-Marie Alexis Sy from the Philippines took the bronze (6,075 pins).
Team captain Shalin said the win was on target after the squad won the gold and bronze in the trios yesterday.
“Even though we had a huge lead, we still had to go all out because any loss in concentration would have cost us... cannot relax, we must still build on the lead to lead even further,” she said.
The victory erased the disappointment of the men’s team ending up empty-handed. Alex Liew Kien Liang-Muhammad Rafiq Ismail-Muhamad Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek-Ahmad Muaz Mohd Fishol- Adrian Ang Hsien Loong collected 6,239 pins to finish in fourth place, 39 pins short of the Thais who won bronze.
Singapore won the gold (6,399 pins) while the Indonesians picked up the silver (6,280 pins).
The Malaysian bowlers have won five gold so far and will be looking to add more in the masters tomorrow. — Bernama
