SEA GAMES: Golden Day At The Lanes

FITTING: Bowlers dedicate wonder show to the injured Esther Cheah

The national bowlers were in sizzling form in Jakarta yesterday. - Picture by HAIRUL ANUAR ABD RAHIM

Zandra Aziela Ibrahim in action en route to winning the women’s doubles with Jacqueline Sijore yesterday.

It was another tight battle at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre, but this time it was Malaysia who edged Singapore when Zandra Aziela Ibrahim Hakimi and Jacqueline Sijore combined to deliver the squad's first gold medal of this Sea Games in the women's doubles yesterday.

That was followed later in the day by men's pair Alex Liew and Adrian Ang who also took gold after coming from behind to deny the Philippines Frederick Ong and Biboy Rivera.

Zandra-Jacqueline, trailing after the first three games, turned the tide in their favour in the fourth when Jacqueline almost delivered a perfect fourth game, only a nine-pin ninth frame spoiling it, as Zandra delivered 193 pins for the duo to wrest the lead from Singapore's Cherie Tan and Daphne Tan.

Zandra and Jacqueline downed a total of 2,463 pins to win by seven, while Dayang Khairunisa Abang Jamalidon, a last-minute replacement for the injured Esther Cheah, celebrated an unexpected bronze in her Sea Games debut after a sensational effort with veteran Sharon Koh that saw them climb from 12th after the first game to finish third with a total of 2,413 pins.

It was also a first medal on her Sea Games debut for 19-year old Jacqueline, who dedicated the gold to the injured Esther, a doubles gold medallist with Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani in Korat four years ago. But there was no denying she impressed by keeping cool under pressure, especially in the final four frames in the final game which the Malaysians entered just seven pins ahead of the Singaporeans.

"I just played my game. I knew it was close and I played to the crowd as well. In the beginning the Singaporean supporters were making a lot of noise, so that indicated they were scoring high and were closing in, so I just kept maintaining my shots as I felt I was on a good run," said Jacqueline.

"When the Singaporeans all went quiet, I knew we had it nailed."

Zandra, 25, said the slow start had not worried them as she knew she could count on the promising Jacqueline.

"We took it easy in the beginning, just played our game. But the turning point was when Jacqueline almost hit a perfect game. That pushed us up and we had the lead within sight. We just kept maintaining that as I knew in doubles, it is about the both of us. If I had a bad shot, Jacqueline would cover it and the same if she had one bad shot," said Zandra.

The men's squad matched the women's with the Asian Games gold medal combination of Alex and Adrian knocking down the pins en route to their gold medal with a 2,555 total, although they too needed some inspiration after trailing Filipino pair Frederick Ong and Biboy Rivera in the opening three games. In the end, the Filipinos' 2,490 total showed the superiority of the Malaysians.

Zulmazran Zulkifli and Mohd Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek took the bronze with 2,434 pins.

"We were pumped up for it and I think there is more to come," said Alex, for whom the Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre continues to be a happy hunting ground, this being his sixth title won there and his fifth Sea Games gold. "We had to be a bit patient at the start. In the earlier part our scores were not very high, but we knew we just had to maintain that as we would be scoring high in the final few games after we had warmed up," Alex added.

Adrian, the singles bronze medallist, was just relieved that the combination worked again, having felt the pressure of going into the competition as the Asian Games gold medallists.

"I'm just happy to have delivered with Alex again. Coming here as the Asian Games champions, we felt the pressure and luckily it worked out well for us," said Adrian.

Bowlers Make Clean Sweep In Doubles Events

JAKARTA: After the drought on the opening day at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre on Tuesday, the Malaysian bowlers began their golden harvest with a clean sweep of the gold medals at stake in the doubles events yesterday.

Zandra Aziela Ibrahim Hakimi-Jacqueline Jenelee Sijore delivered the first gold medal in the women’s competition with a six-game total of 2,463 pinfalls before Adrian Ang-Alex Liew completed the double in the evening with a 2,555 total.

Singapore’s Daphne Tan-Cherie Tan took the silver medal (2,456) while Malaysia’s Sharon Koh-Dayang Khairuniza Dhiyana took the bronze (2,413) in the women’s competition.

Striking combo: Malaysia’s Zandra Aziela (left) and Jacqueline Sijore celebrating with the Jalur Gemilang after delivering the women’s doubles gold at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre in Jakarta yesterday.

Biboy Rivera-Frederick Ong of the Philippines (2,490) took the men’s silver medal while Malaysia’s Mohd Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek-Zulmazran Zulkifli (2,454) settled for bronze.

In the women’s competition, Zandra-Jacqueline did not have the best of starts when they fired 178 and 196 respectively in the opening game.

Sitting in eighth spot after three games, Jacqueline-Zandra doubled their efforts in the next game to push into

the second spot – six pins behind leaders Cherie-Daphne.

Jacqueline, the singles gold medallist in the Women’s World Championships in Hong Kong in September, said she never realised where they stood even after the fourth game, but sensed that Singapore were in the lead.

Bowling them over: Adrian Ang (left) and Alex Liew are all smiles after topping the men’s doubles event.

“They were cheering loudly and I knew they must be leading at that point. But at the end of the final game, they were very quiet,” said Jacqueline.

“I knew then that they were not in the lead and it came as a surprise to me that we won it.”

Alex, meanwhile, said he cherished yesterday’s win, especially as it was the same combination that landed the gold medal in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

“We came here to prove that we are still the best in the region and we did it. This is a big start for us and hopefully there will be more to come,” he said.

Adrian said the key to their success yesterday was keeping their cool despite the loud cheering by other teams on the lanes.

“The cheers told us that they were doing well at that instant. But we kept calm and played our game without thinking about what was happening around us,” said Adrian.

SEA GAMES: Li Jane's Silver Debut

Just three pins separated the top three in a nail-biting last frame in the final game of the women's singles bowling competition that saw Sin Li Jane bag a silver on her Sea Games debut at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre yesterday.

The 19-year-old was on the up, eating away what was an 83-point gap at the end of the fourth game to come within 19 points of eventual winner Cherie Tan of Singapore

It was down to virtually the last throw with Li Jane already having completed the game with a score of 207 pinfalls and would have won if Cherie scored anything but a strike in her last throw, while Li Jane herself would have lost out on the silver to Singapore's Jazreel Tan had she scored just one pin less in her final throw.

The gripping finale saw Cherie under severe pressure to register a strike with gold at stake and the Singaporean produced just that to deny Li Jane by two pins with a score of 190 in the final game for a 1,286 total.

Earlier, the men's singles saw Adrian Ang claw back from a poor start to take bronze behind Filipinos Frederick Ong and Jeremy Posadas.

Read more: SEA GAMES: Li Jane's silver debut - Other - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/sports/other/sea-games-li-jane-s-silver-debut-1.6584#ixzz1dqJ2KhKj

Poor Sin Lets Gold Slip Away

JAKARTA: The Malaysian bowlers failed to deliver a golden glitter at the alley yesterday as the first day of competition saw Sin Li Jane and Adrian Ang bagging a silver and bronze respectively in the singles event.

But Li Jane was a strike away from clinching the gold at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre. The 20-year-old needed a strike in the last frame to seal the gold medal, but the 10th pin stood, untouched.

The Malaysian contingent then were stunned when Li Jane missed the spare, putting her two pins behind Singapore’s Cherie Tan in the final standings.

Cherie won the gold on 1,286 pinfalls after six games while Li Jane had 1,284. Singapore’s Jazreel Tan (1,283) took the bronze.

“I thought I had reeled in a good ball in the last frame, but somehow the 10th pin stood. I didn’t know where I stood in the standings at that moment and I admit it was a missed opportunity,” said Li Jane.

Li Jane, who is making her Games debut, almost silenced her critics for claiming she choked on the big stage when she reeled in 233 in the fifth game against Cherie’s low 168.

But Cherie had a better final game when she struck home from the eighth frame, albeit returning with a 190 score.

“I hope I can turn my performance today into a gold medal-winning performance in the doubles tomorrow,” said Li Jane, who has been heavily criticised for churning out dismal performances in many big competitions, including the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and the Women’s World Champion­ships in September.

As for Adrian, he had a poor start when he could only reel in 187 and 195 in the first two games. But he regained his focus to grab the bronze medal.

National coach Holloway Cheah was philosophical about Li Jane’s miss in the final frame.

“Everybody missed today and we missed some too. But this is bowling and that is how it is in this sport,” he said.

“Cherie wasn’t playing very well in the final game but she did well with three strikes towards the end of the final game.

“Let’s hope we can turn things around as tomorrow will be a different ball game with the long oil pattern in the doubles event.”