SABAH LEG - OPEN AND GRADED RESULTS

The Sabah Leg concluded today with Sabah winning 3 out of 4 gold medals offered in the Open and Graded Category. Mohd Ozzer Othman and Siti Aishajan, both Sabah SUKMA athletes won the Boys and Girls Open category respectively.

Mohd Ozzer, the Boys Team Gold Medalist in the recent SUKMA games went into the Knock-Out Round as 3rd seeded. In the quarter finals, he outplayed his team mate Hazwan Hj. Hasbullah with a total 2 games score of 415 against Hazwan's 317. He then met another of his team mate in the Semi-Finals, Ahmad Faiz Deedat and disposed of him as well. In the finals, he was up against Sunny Lee of Kuching, Sarawak. Sunny was the top seed going into the Knock-out round but there was no stopping Ozzer when he didn't let seeding stand in his way. With this win, he is currently leading the GP Rankings for the Boys Open Category for East Malaysia. Only 3 Boys Open qualify for the GP from East Malaysia.

The Boys Graded category was where Sarawak struck gold. Ervin Lam of Miri, Sarawak, son of Sarawak coach Tony Lim overcame a strong final round opponent from the host state, Muhd Muzammil Zakree. I was not there to witness the final match but I believe that it must've been a tensed match as Ervin edged Muzammil by only 5 pins (333-328).

Photos will be uploaded as soon as I receive them. Meanwhile, you can download the full results of the Sabah Leg in the Download Box on your left.

SABAH LEG - UNDER-12 'STARS OF TOMORROW' RESULTS

Under-12 Boys Participants

Under-12 Girls Participants

The 1st Leg of the East Malaysia edition of the SportExcel Circuit began on June 26th in CPS Bowl, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. It kicked off with the Under-12 "Stars Of Tomorrow" Category where 23 boys and 23 girls from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan gathered to battle it out for the title "CHAMPION".

Under-12 Boys Winners with Mr. Allan Lee

Under-12 Girls Winners with Mr. Allan Lee

The Under-12 category or better known as "Stars of Tomorrow" was initiated by the Amateur Bowling Association of Sarawak (ABAS) and Sukan Teras in 2006. The "Stars of Tomorrow" has always gotten major support from the officials and especially the parents as they watch their children put into action what they've been taught. This year, the bowlers played a total of 8 games and Ahmad Azraei Tamring from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah won his first title in his bowling career when he amassed a total of 1459, averaging 182.38 beating his team mate, Ahmad Fawwaz Farhan by 100 pins in the boys category. The bronze medal went to Christopher Tiong from Sibu. The girls category also was dominated by Sabah when Steffira Zeandea defended her title in the Sabah edition of the "Stars of Tomorrow" when she knocked down 1350 pinfalls to beat Jacelyn Ng and Nicole Tan from Sarawak, her nearest opponents to the title.

Results of Under-12 Category

Even though the number of participants was less this year, the atmosphere in the bowling center remained upbeat. I always find when the Under-12 bowlers are in action, their parents are more excited and nervous compared to the bowlers. But this is good, it shows that the parents are supportive of their children and this will lead to their children being more disciplined and therefore better persons in the future. The Under-12 "Stars of Tomorrow" competition has produced many potential bowlers for Sabah and Sarawak like Muhd Syafiq Sajeli from Sarawak who represented his state to the SUKMA games and produced the historical PERFECT GAME.

Sabah also had Siti Aishatun Husin who won the 2006 Sarawak "Stars of Tomorrow" competition representing the Sabah Team in the recent SUKMA games. Because of the initiative of ABAS for the Under-12 category, SportExcel proposed that the Under-12 category be inducted into the Junior Circuit this year. Thanks to ABAS and thanks to Sukan Teras, MSN.

The graded and open category will see action tomorrow.