Ayra and Hakim lead the Under-12 Categories

(Story and photos by Tony Lim and YK Choo)

Kuala Lumpur, Saturday – Ayra Nur Jehan of Selangor, booked like a seasoned campaigner to take the lead in the Girls Under-12 division with scores of 188, 202, 185, 190, 162 and 181 for a total of 1108 pinfalls to average 184 in the first block of 6 games.

This lanky lass has got tremendous potential with her heigh as an advantage. Ayra has a very smooth swing and with more training and tournament experience she will be the one to watch for in the near future. Shazreen Nadia Teh binti Sharuul Hafiz of Kuala Lumpur finish in second place scoring 1018 pinfalls and Nurul Aina Syairak binti Khairil of Perak settle for third place with a total of 980 pinfalls.

In the Boys Under-12 division, Tun Ameerul Al Hakim of Perak scored games of 193, 225, 180, 184, 203 before letting his guard down with a mere 158 in the last game. Still, Ameerul had a total of 1143 pinfalls to average 190 for the 6 games and should be in contention for a good finish tomorrow.

Afiq Irsyaduddin bin Baharoddin also of Perak had 1070 pinfalls to settle for second place while Adam Quah Tzuang of Kuala Lumpur was good enough for third placing with a score of 1063 pinfalls which is the best showing so far for him.

The top 12 boys and girls in the Under-12 division will advance to the second round where they will play another 6 games to decide the final placings. A total of 80 bowlers took part in the Under-12 event which is a good response considering the Under-12 is not supported in the youth development program.

It is the ardent support of the parents and coaches who continued with the training of these young kids who still showed tremendous determination and dedication to prove that they should be counted as the base for the next generation of bowlers who will one day don national colours.

If you were to walk into the venue of the National Junior Tenpin Bowling Circuit, you will be amassed at the amount of encouragement that the Under-12 bowlers get and the support from the parents is simply laudable. Besides the competition, there is good interaction among the parents and officials of the different races and this factor should be recognized as a contributing factor to national unity and 1 Malaysia. This proves that sport is a vehicle that has and will always be a driving force of understanding and mutual respect.