Faten Najihah leads in the Round 1 of the Girls Graded

(Report by Tony Lim)

Local lass Faten Najihah bt Ahmad Faik took the lead after the first block of 8 games in the Girls Graded division of the National Junior Circuit where she scored a total of 1507 pinfalls to average 188. Fatin’s best performance in the National Junior Circuit has been a third placing in Perak and she is hoping to win on home soil this time around.

From left, Liew Li Jian (KUL), Anessa Asyira (NSE), Faten Najihah (PAH)

“She is sharpening her skills during training and has a better mental game and I am very proud of her performance right now especially that we are going into the final lap of our training before the SUKMA. The performances of our bowlers in this circuit will help us to assess what we need to concentrate on before we leave for Melaka,” said Mohd Fariq Shamsudin, the Pahang coach for the SUKMA Tenpin Bowling Team.

Anessa Asyira bt Abas of Negeri Sembilan took second position with an average of 187 for a total of 1496 pinfalls. Anessa was a model of consistency having a good start with 229 and was never trouble throughout, with her strength being in sparing and only with a poor a 169 on the last game.

Liew Li Jian of Kuala Lumpur who has been practicing diligently the last few weeks proved that hard work does pay when she took the third spot in the field of 49 graded girls’ bowlers with a creditable average of 185 to score 1483 pinfalls. Li Jian could have secured a better average if she had not started off badly with score of 157 and 169.

But the amount of effort she put into practice reminded her that she must be patient and she finished with a flourish, scoring 204, 213 and 213 on the last 3 games to justify her place for the next round. “Li Jian really wanted to do well in this tournament and she has been putting in a lot of practice and I guess it pretty well paid off for her and I am so happy. I will continue to support her so long as she has the determination and desire to do well and I know that success does not come easy,” said her father Liew Kok Wah.

The oiling distant for the Pahang leg is 36 feet with a slight positive blend in the middle of the lanes which should give the ball a better back end reaction. But what confused the bowlers was that the back end was not as sharp as it should be and the cause was due to the fact the lanes at Kuantan Megalanes was recently been re-sanded and cleaning the back ends thoroughly will affect the coating in the long run.

Bowlers will then have to adapt themselves to mild back end or get a ball that will be more aggressive at the back end. The newer pins that were used for this circuit could be another contributing factor to the frustration of the bowlers but I believe this will be a good time for them to practice on newer pins as the pins used for the SUKMA in Melaka will also be new.

Results of the Girls Graded Round 1 is available for download in the "Downloads" Box.