SOLID START: Leaders of Girls and Boys Graded first round Nerosha Keligit and Adri Shahri Santosoh pose before the start of the competition.
KUCHING: Sarawak dominated the first round of the Boys and Girls Graded competition of the Sportexcel-NSC-MTBC Tenpin Bowling Junior Circuit, Sarawak Leg at Crystal Bowl yesterday.
In the delayed start to the Girls Graded contest, recent Malaysian Open Girls Graded champion Nerosha Keligit Thiagarajan was in fine form to roll down a six-game total of 1,136 pins to grab the lead in the 11-bowler field.
Nerosha, who was also the Girls Graded champion of the Sabah Leg held in Kota Kinabalu in April, knocked down 207 pins in the first game.
This was followed by a string of 214, 178, 202, 175 and 160. Her average game was 189.
“This is quite an unexpected result for me today (yesterday) considering the lane condition is hard. I am confident of doing well tomorrow (today),” said the state Sukma XV bowler who is gunning for her third win this year and the ticket to the grand finals in Kuala Lumpur in September.
The Sarawak southpaw has also won the doubles gold with Jackelyn Ng at the Interstate Bowling Championship earlier this year.
Coming in second place was Nerosha’s teammate Nadine Kong who posted a score of 1,126 pins while Sabah’s Alexandria Edith John was third with 1,098 pins.
In fourth and fifth positions were Sarawak’s Raylin Ang and Jocelyna Judith Jonathan with 1,073 pins and 1,067 pins respectively.
Adri Shari Santosoh, the younger brother of national bowler Aris Ardila Santosoh, was also impressive with his score of 1,227 pins to lead the Boys Graded round one.
Mohd Uzair Irsyad Noorazul was second with 1,225 pins and third was Sabah’s Muhammad Danil Al-Riasyi who knocked down 1,219 pins.
In fourth and fifth positions were Ahamad Fawwaz Farhan Abdullah (1,181) and Sarawak’s Abang Azlan Yunus Abang Azman (1,128) while Sabah leg Boys Open champion Erwin Lim was pale form of himself yesterday and only managed to finish in tenth place with his score of 1,015 pins.
Amanda Than of Sabah took
the pole position in the Girls Graded after felling 1,083 pins in round one.
Fifteen pins behind her in second place was teammate Erissa Sarah Che Ramli while two other Sabah bowlers Syarifah Nadia Ali Hassan and Nurul Adilah Junaidi were third and fourth with 1,068 pins and 1,061 pins respectively.
Despite undergoing a 28-hour journey from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching by bus, Sabah juniors dominated the first round of the Girls Under-12 contest, with Nurul Alyssa Junaidi leading the 12-bowler field with her six-game total of 969 pins.
Finishing in second place was Alyssa’s teammate Sasha Ameera Puteri Sharom who felled 895 pins, and two other Sabahans Nurul Ayunni Junaidi was third on 861 pins and Bibi Aryana Arman fourth with 830 pins.
Fifth to tenth finishers were Rachel Boon from Sarawak (776), Dyg Evy Suleanny Yusop of Sabah (773), Eleeza Ezzette of Sarawak (772), Nur Aina Kamalia of Sarawak (767), Dyg Yumi Azreen Abg Azman of Sarawak (743) and Yii Ziqin of Sarawak (718).
In the Boys Under-12 first round, Nevern Netaneel Marcellinus from Sabah downed 1,272 pins to take the lead.
Sarawak’s Melvin Gilbert Tingau started with a spark, downing 209 pins in the first game and 215 in the second but was unable to keep the momentum going, finishing in second place with 1,161 pins.
Third was Mohd Zuhayr Redza Noorazrul who posted a six-game total of 1,059 pins.
The fourth to ninth positions were occupied by bowlers from Sarawak. They are Abner Loo Chun Lik (1,036), Marlon Umak Freddy (1,027), Musayyar Khalid (1,012),
Daniel Wong Pak Wen (930), Muhd Farhan Md Shorkri (920) and Cody Jong Siang Boon (827).
Sabah’s Muhd Ezze Dzulfiqry Yusop was tenth with 815 pins.
The Under-12 bowlers will play four more games today for the top three positions.
The first round for the Boys Graded was scheduled to roll off later yesterday.
Today will also see the second round of the Boys/Girls Graded, Boys/Girls Open where the top three bowlers from each category advance to the stepladders finals.
A total of 104 bowlers from Sabah and Sarawak are taking part in this competition whereby the top two boys and two girls in the Under-12 will qualify for the grand finals while the top three from Boys/Girls Graded, Boys/Girls Open will make the finals.