Skip to main content

Bowler Siti is Malaysia’s top performer in Las Vegas

By RAJES PAUL

KUALA LUMPUR: Debutant Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman stood tall on the opening day of the women’s World Championships although Malaysia fell out of the running for a medal in the singles event at the Cashman Centre in Las Vegas.

The 18-year-old Siti hardly showed any sign of nerves when she emerged as the top performer in the Malaysian camp. She finished sixth in a 228-member field after firing lines of 176-198-214-279-194-266 for a six-game total of 1,327 on Tuesday.

She missed the top four cut by only 18 pins. Only the top four qualified for tomorrow’s semi-finals.

Professional bowler Stephanie Nation of the United States lived up to her reputation to lead the fray with a six-game total of 1,361 followed by Mexican Sandra Gongora (1,357), Anja Ginge Jensen of Denmark (1,347) and Finland’s Krista Pollanen (1,345).

Cover girls: Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman (left) and Zandra Aziela Ibrahim Hakimi posing at the World Championships in Las Vegas.

Seasoned campaigner Shalin Zulkifli settled for 19th spot with a 1,297 total while Zandra Aziela Ibrahim Hakimi was placed 21st on 1,282.

The other three Malaysians, however, found the going tough with Esther Cheah finishing 64th (1,212), Sharon Koh 71st (1,207) and Wendy Chai 116th (1,163).

Malaysian team official Cheah Ban Cheng said that Siti certainly made heads turn with her performance. “It was rookie Siti who provided the excitement in the day’s final squad. She showed good recovery after posting a sub-standard score in the first two games,” said Ban Cheng in a press statement.

“In the final game, Siti was on track for a podium finish when she reeled off seven strikes in a row. But a split in the next game saw her hopes dashed.”

Malaysia will now be out to make an impression in the doubles through their three combinations – Siti and Zandra, Shalin and Esther and Sharon and Wendy.

Out of the three, Shalin and Esther are Malaysia’s best bets for a medal.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Uber Cub: Malaysian squad Can Spring A Surprise - Ahmad Shabery

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek remains confident that the national Uber Cup squad can spring a surprise when Malaysia hosts the Thomas and Uber Cup finals at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from May 9-16. He said despite not being the favourite, the women's team was able to surprise everyone by winning the gold medal at the Laos SEA Games. "I am confident they (Uber Cup team) will be able to produce a similar surprise. Not only are they capable of reaching the semi-final, they can go further," he told reporters after having lunch with national shuttlers here Thursday. National badminton Team manager Datuk Syed Abu Bakar Abdullah who echoed the minister's confidence said: "In Laos, nobody expected the women's team to win the world, so why not the Uber Cup? All they need to do is try their very best." Women's team captain Wong Pei Tty said she and her team-mates have set a target of r...
1 comment
Read more

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...
4 comments
Read more

Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’

Saya setuju. We are working on more coaches! “ @ManOlimpik : Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’ http://t.co/7D7wmHWaNy ” — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) June 10, 2014 The benchmark. Can our junior athletes train as hard as Malaysia's world No.1 badminton player, Lee Chong Wei? “IT IS okay lah. The training is not too bad lah. I will try lah … Wah, so hard lah today.” These are some of the common statements I hear from our juniors nowadays. It is not only in badminton. It is the easy-going, laid-back attitude and lack of competitiveness at grassroots level that we have problems producing quality players. I have travelled quite a bit. After ending my decade-long career with the national team, I went to play in the league in Europe. It’s different there. The European athletes know what they want. And they do it with real focus. Even the young ones possess admirable self-control and show a high level of commitment. During my time in the ...
12 comments
Read more