Kuching bowlers in the lead

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KUCHING: Abang Nazreen Firdaus Azahari and Farzana Ibrahim of Kuching led the qualifying for the Boys Graded and Girls Graded final of the second leg of the Sabah/Sarawak circuit at Crystal Bowl, BDC yesterday.

GOOD JOB: Nazreen’s mother Maimunah Arshad (left) congratulates her son for finishing first in the first block of eight games in the qualifying for the Boys Graded final at Crystal Bowl yesterday.

GOOD JOB: Nazreen’s mother Maimunah Arshad (left) congratulates her son for finishing first in the first block of eight games in the qualifying for the Boys Graded final at Crystal Bowl yesterday.

Nazreen was in fine form to knock down 192 pins in the first game, followed by 202, 278, 175, 215, 197, 214 and 216 for a total of 1,689 pinfalls to finish first among the 42 boys who played their first block of eight games yesterday.

The 16-year-old student from SMK Matang Jaya is looking to continue his good form in the second block of six games today.

“I am happy with my performance today and I hope I can do even better tomorrow,” he said.

Nazreen, who has 75 points from the sixth-place finish in the Sabah leg of the Sabah/Sarawak circuit earlier this month, is hoping to finish first in the qualifying and win the final where the champion will be awarded 155 points.

This is not the first time he is competing in the Sabah/Sarawak circuit after he took up bowling when he was nine years old.

He has been competing in the junior circuit since he was in primary six. Nazreen won the Boys Graded title in 2008 that earned him a spot in the grand prix finals of the Sportexcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC-Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Junior Circuit in Kuantan.

Nazreen is also a member of the state squad that won the team gold at the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) bowling competition in June this year.

Yean Chia Ming of Kuching was second in the Boys Graded with 1,641 pins while his teammate Ervin Lim from Miri was third with 1,584 pins.

Stefan Greater from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah felled 1,563 pins to finish fourth while fifth to tenth placings were Mohd Khalid (Kuching), Muhd Syazwan (Kuching), Galliano Edward (Kuching), Ahmad Tirmidzi Tamring (Kota Kinabalu), Jeremy Jerome (Kuching) and Mohd Sufyan Ismat Hafiz (Kota Kinabalu).

In the Girls Graded, Farzana from Miri, Sarawak also had a good game yesterday, chalking up an average game of 181 pins to collect a total of 1,447 pins to top the field of 31 contestants.

Khairun Sofiea also from Miri was second with 1,378 pins while Sibu’s Nadine Kong felled 1,371 pins to take the third spot, and Nerosa Keligit of Kuching was fourth with 1,365 pins.

The fifth to tenth positions were occupied by Jocleyn Judith (Kuching), Deanne Kelly Jilton (Kota Kinabalu), Erma Fadrinah Abd Malek (Sandakan), Dayang Saleha Salleh (Sandakan), Nicole Tan (Kuching) and Than Yin Xin @ Amanda (Kota Kinabalu).

Only the top eight bowlers will get to play in the finals of the Boys Graded and Girls Graded this Sunday.

One hundred and thirty bowlers comprising 66 from Kuching, 15 from Miri, seven from Sibu, 34 from Kota Kinabalu, eight from Labuan and five from Sandakan are taking part in the event that will end on August 1.

They are aiming to collect more points to qualify for the Grand Prix Finals of the Sportexcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC-Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Junior Circuit at Sunway Pyramid Megalanes, Selangor in September.

Three categories for both Boys and Girls U-12, Graded and Open will be competed, with the top three bowlers from Boys Open and Boys Graded,top two from Girls Open and Girls Graded, as well as top two bowlers from Boys/Girls U-12 shall qualify for the grand prix finals.