KL Graded Bowlers opens the curtains to the 4th Leg of the 2010 Sportexcel Junior Circuit

Kuala Lumpur bowlers

Kuala Lumpur, Thursday - The action resumes at Megalanes Endah Parade after a thrilling week at MIBC, Melaka where the MSSM Bowling Championships were held. One would have thought that there will be a decline in the number of participants but how wrong could we be when more than 400 bowlers registered for the Kuala Lumpur Leg of the National Junior Bowling Circuit.

The oiling distance for this leg is 36 feet with the oiling pattern like a “top hat”, where as in Melaka it was 40 feet and more of a cone shaped oiling pattern. This 36 feet pattern allows the bowlers to play various lines from the outside to deep inside and if they swing the ball out it will bounce back to hit the pocket.

The demand on this type of oiling pattern will then be on the physical game and ball selection. With the Kuala Lumpur Leg being the 4th leg of the circuit, the bowlers and coaches should have adequate knowledge on where to play and selecting the right ball. Besides this, they will also need to have the right surface preparation for the ball to match up to the oiling patterns.

With more than 400 bowlers registered for the event, it will be a real test for the organizers as well as the bowlers as Megalanes have only 30 lanes compared to MIBC which have 52 lanes. In the Boys and Girls open category, there are 59 and 28 participants respectively, 168 bowlers in the Boys Graded and 132 bowlers in the Girls Graded. There are a total of 82 Under 12 bowlers for the event.

The Kuala Lumpur bowlers were the first to play and the action pick up from where they left off in Melaka when Emir Hazim bin Rozaimee (picture) reeled off 7 consecutive strikes on lanes 5 & 6 and it was a requirement that an announcement be made to draw attention to the lanes he was bowling on. With all eyes on Hazim, he remained compose and delivered the ball with the usual efficiency and was rewarded with strikes in frames 8, 9 and 10.

As he delivered the ball for the 11th strike, it went down the 3rd arrow to the 40 feet mark before the ball made a turn for the pocket and knocked down all 10 pins. All that remained was the final throw. The other bowlers stopped bowling and the spectators gathered behind Hazim’s lane. The atmosphere in Megalanes Endah Parade grew still. Everyone was quiet as Hazim stepped on the approach and delivered the ball. It went down the 3rd arrow and past the 40 foot break point and the ball made a turn for the pocket. The ball rolled towards the pocket but unfortunately pin 10 was stubborn and decided to stand firm. Hazim was denied his dream to roll down a Perfect Game.

Nevertheless, Hazim finished the first block of 8 games with a total of 1640 pinfalls for second place which should be good enough to make it to the second round. The current leader, Amirul Farhan, bowled consistently to score an average of 206 with a total of 1654 pinfalls while Syaffique Ikhwan settled for third place with 1638 pinfalls.

In the girls graded division, Norsyamimi Sarfa binti Muhd Rusdi took the top spot in squad A with a total of 1434 pinfalls to average 179 with Siti Nurzulaika binti Ismail in second place with a total of 1421 pinfalls. Diyana Nadhira binti Mohd. Mokhzan scoring 1349 pinfalls is in third.

Story by Tony Lim.

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