Nerosha and Musayyar need to be at their best for today’s finals. — Photo by Harry Ilias
National bowler Adrian Ang is expected to give stiff competition to Sarawak bowlers in the finals. — Photos by Teo Chi Wei
Indonesia’s Ryan Lalisang is one of the notable bowlers competing in the Sarawak International Open Tenpin Bowling Championship this week.
KUCHING: State Sukma bowlers Nerosha Keligit Thiagarajan and Musayyar Khalid are eyeing podium finishes in the Open, Youth and Classified categories after booking their tickets to the finals of the Sarawak International Open Tenpin Bowling Championship at Megalanes Sarawak Batu Kawa yesterday.
Nerosha, who won six gold medals at the 18th Sukma here last year, was in fine form as she amassed 3,542 pinfalls to lead Squad A in the Youth category and was second in the Open Squad A behind ex-Sukma gold medallist Chong Jun Foo.
“I am hoping to maintain my performance during the qualifying and win a podium finish in this championship. This is my first championship here.
“I am more confident in winning the Youth title because the Open is more challenging where I have to compete with idols of mine like Shalin Zulkifli, Rafiq Ismail, Alex Liew and many others,” said the 21-year-old, who was overjoyed for making the cut for the finals where she will meet many bowling stars.
Although admitting that she is feeling a little nervous in facing many renowned bowling champions, Nerosha regarded it as a great honour to be able to compete with national keglers such as Shalin.
“She (Shalin) inspired me and I want to learn to be like her … such as how she gets the motivation and maintains her fighting spirit in every game,” she added.
As for Musayyar, he is ready to try and give his best to earn honour and glory for Sarawak in the Classified and Open finals.
The SMK Tabuan Jaya student, who is a member of Sarawak Sukma shadow team, refused to be complacent as he believes that the competition would be even stiffer in the finals.
Musayyar, who represented Amateur Tenpin Bowling Association of Sarawak and competed in Squad A, felled 3,347 pins to qualify for the Classified final and booked his final ticket in the Youth with 3,427 pins.
Other Sarawak bowlers who also advanced include Mohd Uzair Irsyad (Open, Youth) and Daniel Tan (Open, Classified).
Today’s Classified final involving 40 top qualifiers will commence at 9.30am while the Youth final with 40 top qualifiers will begin at 2.30pm. The Open final will take place tomorrow.