Shaifulbahri receives the trophy from Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress secretary Maradonna Chok (fifth left) while the players and coaches look on.
KUCHING: Sarawak were on a roll on the final day of the 31st Interstate Bowling Championship at Sunway Megalanes, Sunway Pyramid in Selangor on Wednesday as they grabbed four more gold medals to pip Kuala Lumpur on silver medals to the overall champions title.
The state team’s total medal tally was five golds, four silvers and one bronze.
This was the second time that Sarawak has lifted the overall title after it won in 2011.
The state team lived up to its expectations when they captured both the men’s and women’s team events, scoring 4,802 pins and 4,377 pins respectively.
The men’s team comprised Christopher Tiong Lee Siong, Abang Afiq Yazid Abang Azman, Ervin Lim Wai Mun and Muhd Uzair Irsyad Noor Azrul while in the women’s team were Dayang Khairuniza Dhiyana Jamaliddon, Nur Aina Kamalia Abdul Ayub, Nur Hazirah Ramli and Nerosha Keligit Thiagarajan.
The icing on the cake was Abang Afiq’s gold medal in the men’s all-events after he amassed a total pinfalls of 3,731. It was his third gold medal won at the meet.
Equally impressive were the girls team of Dayang Yumi Azreen Abang Azman, Nur Haziqah Ramli, Asya Dania Azree and Lavina Kho Jia Jie who won the team gold while the boys team comprising Abner Loo Chun Lik, Gordon Tsen Fan Yew, Mohd Nur Syafiq Mohd Amran and Muhd Zuhayr Redza Noor Azrul took the boys team silver.
Nur Syafiq also won the silver in the boys all-events.
“We didn’t expect to win the overall title as most of our bowlers were rookies. But they proved that they can still stand up with the rest,” said assistant team manager Robert Lu who is also Amateur Bowling (Tenpin) Association of Sarawak (Abas) vice president.
“We are very proud of them and their achievement. The competition field was also weak as the national team and Podium, Kita Juara bowlers did not take part due to the coming Asian Games and World Youth Championship.
“Still, kudos to our players. You did us all proud.
“They have played very well otherwise we would not have won,” he added.
The team manager is Abas deputy president Shaifulbahri Shukri while the chief coach is Jackson Ting and assistant coaches are Angelo Koay, Bong Kihow and Daniel Tan.