PETALING JAYA: National kegler, Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman ended her 10 year wait to reclaim women’s open National Championships title here Sunday night.
After claiming her maiden title in the 2009 edition, the 29-year-old secured her second title by defeating national teammate, Natasha Roslan 200-182 in an all-Selangor final at the Sunway Mega lanes here.
Siti Safiyah advanced straight to the finals as top seed after finishing top in the first round, while Natasha edged senior Esther Cheah 235-202 in the semifinals.
Siti Safiyah finished top with 1,840 pinfalls, followed by Natasha (1,804) and Esther (1,782) in the eight- game classification.
“This final was quite challenging as Natasha had a great performance, but with the tough training I am going through now for the World Championships, I managed to overcome her challenge. The left lane proved to be difficult for me, I could not continue my momentum after my three strikes and I ended up with three splits in that lane,” she told reporters after her win.
Siti Safiyah is the part of the national team in the mission to defend their team event gold at the world meet in Las Vegas from Aug 22-30.
Meanwhile in the men’s open, the 43rd Malaysian National Bowling Championships saw a new champion, after Tun Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam won his maiden title, defeating Ahmad Muaz Fishol 258-194.
Earlier in the semifinals, the 20-year-old ousted Kedah’s Wan Muhammad Naqib 180-169 in the semifinals. Ahmad Muaz topped the first round with 1,839 pinfalls, followed by Wan Muhammad (1,828) and Tun Hakim (1,810).
“I am very happy as this is my very first final and I won. This is also my first title of the year,” said Tun Hakim.
However, defending champion Rafiq Ismail couldn’t make the cut into the top three stepladder after finishing fourth with 1,792 pinfalls. – Bernama
