Chong turns giant-killer in junior circuit

July 22, 2008


KUCHING: Chong Jun Foo came looking for a good game in the second and final leg of the National Junior Bowling Circuit (East Malaysia) here at the weekend.

And he not only got what he was looking for but also bowled the top seed over in the process to lift the Boys Open title.

The Form Two giant-killer from SMK St Thomas matched Sabah’s champion and first-ranked Azreen Khasful frame for frame but finished the stronger on 363-330 to claim his sole title in this year’s circuit at Riverside Superbowl here on Sunday.

Chong, a member of the state Sukma XII team, did not bowl in the first leg in Kota Kinabalu last month because he had to go back to school after missing too many classes while training for the Terengganu Games.

His absence meant he did not collect enough points to qualify for the Grand Prix finals in Megalanes Kuantan, Pahang, from August 28 to 30.

But his victory here was sweet as he managed to stop the top seed who looked solid en route to the final.

The script was the same for Kuching’s Dayang Aida, winner of the Girls Open. She was also absent in the Sabah leg and will be out in the GP finals due to insufficient points.

Aida who beat Natalie Braoh (Kuching) 335-301 in the quarter-finals and Nabilah Kassim (Sabah) 366-333 in the semi-finals, took the title by defeating Syazwani Sajeli (Kuching) 367-341 in the final.

Abang Nazreen of Kuching won the boys graded division while Miri’s Farahan Ibrahim took the girls’ category at Crystal Bowl.

Abang Nazreen who beat Azril Fakhree in the finals, was overjoyed as he could only finish 22 in the Sabah leg. With this win, he joins Azril Fakhree and Ervin Lim (Miri) in the GP Finals.

Farahan beat Siti Farahain of Sabah 363-341 in the final.

The 14-year-old was third in the Sabah leg but hit all the right lines on Sunday.

She started the knockout round seeded eight but made steady progress from there. In the quarter-finals, she beat Najihah Deli of Kuching, the top seed, by only one pin — 314-313.

In the semi-finals, she outbowled Sabahan Nurul Ashikeen 347-330, and held her nerves in the finals to prevail.

Both Farzana and Farahain have qualified for the Grand Prix finals.

Only five players — three in Boys Open and two in Girls Open – qualified for GP finals from East Malaysia.

Alan Lee, development manager for tenpin bowling, Unit Prestasi Tinggi, MSN, gave away the prizes for the open category while Amateur Bowling Association of Sarawak deputy president Shaifulbahri Shookri gave away the prizes for the graded category.

The tournament was part of the SportExcel-MILO-NSC-MTBC National Junior Circuit.

A first for Jun Foo and Dayang

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR: Bowlers Chong Jun Foo and Dayang Aida nailed their first national junior circuit titles this year in the Sarawak leg of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo Circuit in Kuching on Sunday.

But the duo will still not feature in the national Grand Prix Finals in Kuantan from Aug 28-30. They did not compete in the Sabah leg last month and the points they raked in on Sunday were not enough to get them among the qualifiers.

In the boys’ Masters, Jun Joo defeated Azreen Khasful Khainin of Sabah 363-331 (183-146, 180-185) and Aida took the girls’ title by beating Syazwani Sajeli 377-358 (187-182, 190-190).

Masters results

BOYS’ OPEN

Semi-finals: Azreen Khasful Khainin (Sab) bt Nazrin Wagiman (Swk) 344-332, Tan Chien Nan (Sab) bt Chong Jun Foo (Swk) 351-283.

Final: Jun Foo bt Azreen 363-331.

BOYS’ UNDER-16

Semi-finals: Azril Fakhree (Sab) bt Daniel Tan (Swk) 388-360, Abang Nazreen (Swk) bt Akmal Fikri (Swk) 376-295.

Final: Nazreen bt Azril 362-358.

GIRLS’ OPEN

Semi-finals: Dayang Aida (Swk) bt Nabilah Kassim (Sab) 366-333, Syazwani Sajeli (Swk) bt Siti Aishajan (Sab) 367-341.

Final: Aida bt Syazwani 377-372.

GIRLS’ UNDER-16

Semi-finals: Farzana Ibrahim (Swk) bt Nurul Ashikeen (Sab) bt 347-330, Siti Farahain (Sab) bt Steffira Zeandea (Sab) 336-329.

Final: Farzana bt Farahain 363-341.

SARAWAK LEG - FINAL RESULTS

Open Champions
Chong Jun Foo and Dayang Aida from Sarawak

Graded Champions
Farzana Ibrahim and Abg Nazreen from Sarawak

The 2nd and final leg of the East Malaysia edition of the SportExcel-MILO-NSC-MTBC National Junior circuit came to a close today.

SARAWAK MADE A CLEAN SWEEP OF THE OPEN AND GRADED CATEGORIES!

Boys Open Winner, Chong Jun Foo from Kuching defeated 1st seed Azreen Khasful from KK 363-330 to claim his sole title of this year's circuit. This Form 2 boy from SMK St Thomas who was apart of the Sarawak Boys Team to the SUKMA Games in Terengganu did not participate in the 1st Leg in Sabah last month as his parents said that he was already missing too many classes due to the training leading up to the SUKMA. Because of that, he didn't not collect enough points to qualify for the Grand Prix Finals which will be held in Megalanes Kuantan, Pahang from August 28-30. Nonetheless, this win here in his hometown was a sweet and victorious one.

The same situation falls on Dayang Aida, the Champion of the Girls Open. She too did not take part in the Sabah Leg therefore won't be featuring in the GP Finals. Only 3 boys open and 2 girls open qualify from East Malaysia. Dayang beat Natalie Braoh (KCH) 335-301 in the quarter finals, Nabilah Kassim (SAB) 366-333 in the semi-finals and Syazwani Sajeli (KCH) 367-341 in the finals. Dayang who turns 16 on 12th September was the reserved player for the Sarawak Girls Team during the SUKMA Games.

In the Boys Graded and Girls Graded division who was bowling in Crystal Bowl was won by Abang Nazreen of Kuching and Farzana Ibrahim of Miri. Abang Nazreen beat Azril Fakhree to the title. Azril Fakhree who happens to be Azreen Khasful's brother was not able to execute as good a shot as Abang Nazreen. He joins his brother in the bride's maid position in this Sarawak Leg. Abang Nazreen was overjoyed with his win as he only had 22nd placing in the Sabah Leg. With this win, he joins Azril Fakhree and Ervin Lim to the GP Finals.

Farzana Bt. Ibrahim from Miri claimed the Girls Graded title beating Siti Farahain of KK. Farzana who is 14 years old this year was 3rd in the Sabah Leg but managed to hit all the right notes here in Sarawak to become CHAMP. She started the Knock-Out Round seeded 8th and worked herself up from there. In the quarter-finals she beat Najihah Deli, the 1st seed by only 1 pin, 314-313. In the semi-finals, she beat Nurul Ashikeen from KK 347-330, and in the finals, she met Siti Farahain and overcame her jitters to beat Siti 363-341. Both Farzana and Siti qualified for the Grand Prix.

Mr Alan Lee, the Development Manager for Tenpin Bowling, Unit Prestasi Tinggi, MSN gave away the prizes for the Open Category while Haji Shaifulbahri Shookri, the Deputy President of the Amateur Bowling Association of Sarawak (ABAS) gave away the prizes for the Graded Category.

The overall running of the competition was well organized and credit should be given to the hospitable people of Sarawak.

All results can be downloaded from the Download Box on your left.

SARAWAK LEG - ROUND 2 RESULTS

Azreen and Azril
Brothers who are leading the Boys Open and Boys Graded

Azreen Khasful of Sabah maintained his position as the leader going into the Knock-Out Round tomorrow. Even though his performance today was not as good as yesterday, he still managed to upstage his other competitors. In 2nd position is still Tan Chien Nan who was part of the Sabah Boys Team which defended their title in the Terengganu SUKMA recently . The Best Performer today was Sunny Lee of Sarawak scoring a total of 1267 over 6 games and moving from 5th place yesterday to 3rd place.

Girls Open Round 2 Leader Dayang Aida

In the Girls Open category, Dayang Aida from Sarawak who was the reserved of the Sarawak Girls team during SUKMA averaged 202.5 to take over the lead from overnight leader Syazwani Sajeli. Siti Aishajan of Sabah remained in 2nd position. Siti was also apart of the Sabah Girls team in the Terengganu SUKMA. Syazwani is 3rd.

In the Boys Graded category, Azreen's brother Azril Fakhree who like his brother lead the first round, continued his good run and imitated his brother a second time by still leading the Boys Graded after the 2nd round of 6 games. Abg Nazreen from Sarawak is in 2nd position. A special announcement was made in the last game for Nazreen when he had 7 consecutive strikes. However, after the announcement, the pressure got to him and thus, his 8th throw caused him a 6-7-10 split. In the end, he scored a 253 and that pushed him up from 4th position into 2nd position.

The Girls Graded featured a new leader, hailing from Kuching, Sarawak. Najihah Deli was only 1 pin behind Siti Farahain after the 1st Round of 8 games but today she shot up to the top with a score of 1018. At the same time, Siti could only manage a total of 951. With that, she dropped to 3rd position going into the Knock-Out Round. Nurul Ashikeen from Sabah moved up 2 spaces to 2nd position.

In tomorrow's knock-out round, all 8 bowlers in all 4 categories have a chance to qualify for the Grand Prix Finals so I'm sure they are all praying very hard tonight to perform their best in tomorrow's competition. The top 3 Boys Open, top 3 Boys Graded, top 2 Girls Open and top 2 Girls Graded in the GP Rankings will join 13 Boys Open, 17 Boys Graded, 10 Girls Open and 14 Girls Graded from Peninsular Malaysia in the Grand Prix Finals which is scheduled to be held from August 28-30, 2008 in Megalanes Kuantan, Pahang.

Ahmad, Steffira make it a double joy for Sabah

Saturday, July 19, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR: Youngsters Ahmad Azraei Tamring and Steffira Zeandea Greater made it a double joy for Sabah by winning the boys’ and girls’ Under-12 titles in the SportExcel-NSC-Milo East Malaysia Junior Circuit at the Riverside Superbowl in Kuching yesterday.

The duo showed nerves of steel to emerge as the winners of the Sarawak-leg, which attracted 43 boys and 34 girls in the one-day competition.

Azraei and Steffira, who trains under coach Ricky Loh, had also won the titles in the Sabah-leg last week.

In the National Schools (MSSM) meet in Perak last month, Azraei was a member of the Under-12 team who won a bronze medal while Steffira, who idolises national bowler Esther Cheah, captured two gold medals.

RESULTS

Boys: 1. Ahmad Azraei Tamring (Sab) 1328, 2. Ahmad Fawwaz Farhan Abdullah (Sab) 1313, 3. Christopher Tiong Lee Siong (Swk) 1295

Girls: 1. Steffira Zeandea Greater (Sab) 1438, 2. Nur Zahikah Zamree (Sab) 1280, 3. Nicole Tan Yan Han (Swk) 1244.

Sabahan keglers are stars of tomorrow

July 19, 2008

KUCHING: Sabahan bowling prodigies proved all-conquering at the Under-12 Star of Tomorrow tournament at Riverside Superbowl here on Thursday.

Ahmad Azraei Tamring and Ahmad Fawwaz Farhan kept up their scorching form to finish first and second in both home and away legs, confirming their places in the Grand Prix finals at Megalanes Kuantan, Pahang, on August 28 and 30.

In the girls’ category, Sabah’s Steffira Zeandea was no less dominant, capturing both the home and away legs to confirm her place in the GP finals.

Teammate Nur Zahirah Zamree finished second with Nicole Tan of Kuching third.

However, both laid claim to the one GP finals slot remaining on 90 points each after two legs.

To break the deadlock, a one game roll-off was held in which Nicole knocked down 180 pins to Nur Zahirah’s 160.

Allan Lee, development manager for tenpin bowling with Majlis Sukan Negara, gave away the prizes.

The graded category started yesterday at Crystal Bowl Kuching simultaneously with the open category at Riverside Superbowl.

The finals will be held on Sunday morning.

The annual U-12 Star of Tomorrow Tournament is part of the Sportexcel-Sukan Teras-Milo-MTBC Malaysian Junior Bowling Circuit to scout for potential bowlers nationwide.

More than 200 bowlers from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan participated in the Sarawak leg.

SARAWAK LEG - ROUND 1 RESULTS

Round 1 Open Categories Leaders Syazwani Sajeli (SWK) and Azreen Khasful (SAB)

The Open Category of the Sarawak Leg was held in Riverside Superbowl. A total of 15 Boys Open and 9 Girls Open took part and bowled the first block of 8 games in Round 1.

Syazwani Sajeli from Sarawak leads the pack with a score of 1456 averaging 182. Syazwani had lines of 193, 169, 163, 217, 160, 160, 184 and 210 to lead Siti Aishajan of Sabah by 23 pins.

The Boys Open category was dominated by Azreen Khasful from Sabah averaging 217.63. Azreen was in his element today and only had a game below 200. His team mate, Tan Chien Nan is in second position, 65 pins away.

Graded bowlers in action in Crystal Bowl

The Graded category bowled in Crystal Bowl. 73 boys and 43 girls bowled over 3 squads of 8 games each. Both leaders hail from KK; Azril Fikree and Siti Farahain.

Tomorrow, all bowlers will bowl another 6 games to decide the Top 8 bowlers for the Knock-Out Round on Sunday. Here in East Malaysia, all bowlers bowl in Round 1 and Round 2 as participants here are not many and most of them are new bowlers who just want to have fun. Most of them travel a great distance and the organizers here feel that it is just fair to let them enjoy the full 14 games.

SARAWAK LEG - UNDER 12 RESULTS

Bowlers getting ready

Tournament in progress

The 2nd and last leg of the East Malaysia circuit began today in Riverside Superbowl where 43 boys and 34 girls fought for the top 4 spots in the Boys and Girls Under-12 Categories. The bowlers bowled a total of 8 games over 2 blocks of 4 games each.

Mr. Allan Lee with the champions, Ahmad Azraei and Steffira from Sabah

Sabah bowlers swept both the gold medals offered. Steffira Zeandea Greater and Ahmad Azraei showed that nerves of steel to outplay their competitors. Both of them also won the Sabah Leg and thus put them in pole position qualifiers for the Grand Prix Finals.

Boys Squad B	Girls Squad B
Girls Squad A	Boys Squad A

Steffira when interviewed said that she was very happy with her performance today. This Standard 6 bowler from SK St. Joseph, Penampang has been bowling for 4 years and currently train 3 times a week under coach Ricky Loh. She won 2 golds at the recent MSSM Under-12 Championship in Perak and idolizes Esther Cheah. The silver medal went to Nur Zahikah from Sabah, and Bronze to Nicole Tan of Kuching.

Under-12 Boys Champion Ahmad Azraie who also trains under Ricky Loh confidently expressed that he was very confident going into the tournament today and expected to win. "I'm very happy!" said Azraie who is from SK Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu. During the MSSM U-12 Championships in Perak, he helped his team win a Bronze Medal in the Team event. The 2nd and 3rd place went to Ahmad Fawwaz from Sabah and Christopher Tiong from Sibu.

Click here to view results.