PENANG bowlers stole the show on the first day of the 2022 Malaysian inter-state bowling championships at the Sunway Megalanes in Petaling Jaya today, capturing two golds and one silver.
Two of its National Youth bowlers – Megat Zaqrul Haiqal and Muhd Hariz Adlan – made it a one-two finish for Penang in the boys’ singles.
Last year’s Penang Closed champion Nur Amirah Auni gave the state further joy when she captured the women’s singles gold medal.
Megat Zaqrul scorched the lanes with lines of 234-223-297-188-228-193 for a six game total of 1363 for an average of 227.2.
Muhd Hariz was also in good form as he registered a six-game total of 1261 pinfalls, averaging 210.2 to take the silver medal.
Third place went to Abang Afiq Yaazid Abang Azman of Sarawak, who claimed a total of 1240 pinfalls.
Nur Amirah, a former national bowler who is currently the Program Pelapis development coach for the Penang State Sports Council, was also on a roll.
She had lines of 180-214-238-199-204-226 for a six-game total of 1261, averaging 210.2 to claim the gold medal in the women’s singles.
She beat Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani of Negri Sembilan and Nur Jeehan Iezzati of Sabah to second and third places respectively.
Zatil Iman amassed a total of 1242 while Nur Jeehan registered a total of 1212, 19 and 49 pinfalls behind respectively.
In the girls’ singles, Nur Diyana Jalalluddin of Selangor won the gold medal (1189 pinfalls), followed by Durriyah Ibrahim of Kuala Lumpur (1186) and Lavinia Kho Jia Jie of Sarawak (1175).
Penang Tenpin Bowling Association honorary secretary Cheah Ban Cheng said his association was extremely proud of the state bowlers’ inspiring performances.
“This is a refreshing start for us. There was no tournament in the last two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our boys had won the team golds in 2018 and 2019.
“Their results show that we are on the right track in our preparation for Sukma 2022 which will be held in Kuala Lumpur in August. Megat and Hariz are both in the Penang Sukma training squad.
“With Nur Amirah’s victory, the Penang team’s performance on the first day is truly outstanding. She is the state’s Program Pelapis coach whose main task is to unearth aspiring talents for the state.
“We hope that the team will build on today’s momentum in the next two days of competition,” Cheah said.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix courtesy of Penang Tenpin Bowling Association