The top six winners in the boys category (from left) Melvin, Marlon, Aiman, Zuhayr, Jardel and Khadir.
The top six among the girls (from left) Yumi, Shasya, Asya, Hazirah, Aina and Haziqah.
KUCHING: Melvin Gilbert Gimang added another feather to his cap when he won the Piala Persatuan boys title at the ongoing 4th Sarawak Closed Tenpin Bowling Championship at Megalanes Adventure World, King’s Centre last Sunday.
It was the second title for the 15-year-old student from SMK DPHA Gapor, Stampin this year after he won the Handicap 194 and Below of the “Real Bowlers At Work” competition for the month of February.
The Unit Sukan Pretasi Tinggi Negeri (USPTN) AAA bowler was a silver medallist for the Boys U15 team and finished fifth in the Masters at the MSSM Bowling Championship this year.
Melvin also won a silver in the Youth U15 at the 41st MWA Singha Thailand International Open Tenpin Bowling Championship in Bangkok last month.
On Sunday, Melvin fell 1,168 pins over six games to finish 48 pins ahead of runner-up Marlon Umak Freddy while Aiman Daniel was third on 1,037 pins.
Finishing in fourth to sixth were Muhd Zuhayr Redza (1,031 pins), Jardel Sean (961 pins) and Abdul Kadir Haziq Ramli (922 pins).
Marlon and Zuhayr are also from SMK DPHA Gapor, Stampin.
Melvin received a trophy and a RM60 Junior Circuit (JC) grant while Marlon received a trophy and RM40 Junior Circuit grant. Aiman got a trophy and RM30 Junior Circuit grant.
Melvin started bowling when he was 10 years old. The most memorable bowling experience for him was when he won the Boys Graded title in the Sportexcel Junior Circuit Sarawak Leg in 2013.
He achieved his perfect game during training when he was 14 years old and his goal is to become a successful bowler like his idol Park Jong-Woo of South Korea.
“It was tough but I just keep having my ball on the target and take all the spares,” he said of the competition.
Those finishing in the top 12 included Tsen Fan Yew, Azumi Ahmad Zaini, Daniel Wong Pak Wen, Lim Jie, Mohd Zubir Mohd Umar and Suvan Pubalan.
“I feel happy and proud with my performance and achievement,” said Melvin who will next compete in the Youth Open this Saturday and the Open Division on Sunday.
Realising that both competitions will be also very tough, he will be trying his best to meet his target of finishing among the top six bowlers in both events.
In the girls competition, Dayang Yumi Azreen Abang Azman rolled to a total of 1,030 pinfalls to take the top prize of the champion’s trophy and RM60 JC grant.
Second was Nur Shasya Nazira with 1,026 pinfalls while pint-sized Asya Dania Azree was third on 1,005 pinfalls.
The fourth to sixth finishers were Nur Hazirah Ramli (973 pinfalls), Nur Aina Kamalia (970 pinfalls) and Nur Haziqah Ramli (945 pinfalls) who all received a plaque each.
In seventh to 12th place were Eleeza Ezzette Herman Shah, Lavinia Kho Jia Jie, Vivi Wong, Angelle Sulink Wong, Lee Kah Yean and Nur Elisha Awang Anahar.
Yumi said she has been bowling for five years and won the Sportsexcel Girls U12 title in 2014 at the age of 11.
Her routine training is five days a week while she had to make a lot of adjustments to manage bowling and studies.
“My next goal is to participate in the Girls Open and try to win,” she declared.
The prizes presentation for the Piala Persatuan winners will be on this Sunday.