New bowling ball gets Zatil rolling

10^th Milo International Junior All-Stars Bowling Championship 2009

Day 9

A new bowling ball specially drilled for the 10^th Milo International Junior All-Stars Bowling Championship has got national bowler Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani scorching the lanes at the Sunway Mega Lanes.

The 22-year-old Zatin from Kelana Jaya, Selangor, who has been the leader in the Girls Open category from Day 1 last Wednesday and each time she was pushed down the ladder, she has bounced back.

Late Wednesday night she bowled a line of 220, 290 and 288 in her sixth attempt at the Masters qualifier for a total of 798 to lead the pack again.

Zatil started off the tournament on high note in her first game, which is for the singles, where she fired 781. She was leading the singles pack, before fellow teammate Esther Cheah on Tuesday bowled 803 to take the lead.

On Wednesday morning, Zatil who was placed second placed overnight, dropped to eleventh. And the same night, she was back in the lead with her 798 where she also missed a perfect game where she spared and striked home for 290.

“Coach Holloway (Cheah) drilled a ball for me specially for this tournament. It is doing wonders and I am very comfortable with it,” said Zatin who is competing in her fourth All-Stars but never won the title.

“The ball has very good carry and each time I have tried to improve my score, it has not failed me,” said an elated Zatil, the mixed doubles bronze medalist partnering Adrian Ang in World Games in July in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

“I am looking forward to a good run in the Masters final on Saturday and hopefully I will have a podium finish,” said Zatil who finished fifth last year.

A member of the national team for the last three years, Zatil, the youngest in a family of six, made her mark as a newcomer to the national team in 2007 where she won three gold medals at the Sea Games in Bangkok – doubles, trio and team.

This year in the in the World Youth Championship in Orlando, USA, she won the bronze in the singles and that has been her only achievement.

Naturally, she is looking forward to ending the year on a high note to make up for her disappointment of not having done better this year

But Zatil said she is aware that it is easier said that done because there is strong competition in the championship.

Among the bowlers Zatil will have to contend with will include her teammates, defending champion Sin Lin Jane, Esther, Siti Safiyah Amirah, Zandra Aziela, and a few back-up and youth bowlers like Hee Kar Yen, Fatin Syazliana, Shazwani Ahmad Suhaimi and Syakira Yeoh to name a few.

Then, there is the challenge from the Koreans led by Shin Bo Hyun and Jeon Eun Hee, Indonesia led by Tannya Roumimper and bowlers from Singapore and Hong Kong.

The boys and girls graded finals will be held this morning and leading the charge in the boys category is Malacca’s Dinie Faliq who is leading the pack of 32 qualifiers.

In the girls category, 15 & Under champion Selva Nivashini who is the top Malaysian in third place will lead the challenge against leader Chen-Szu Min from Chinese Taipei and second placed Kim Yeo Jin from Korea.

CURRENT LEADERS:

BOYS OPEN:

Local Pool (Top 12 qualify): 1. Tengku Afnan(Ked) – 770; 2. Zaid Izlan (Elite Backup) – 765; 3. Mohd Amirrul Afif (Nat Youth) - 749; 4.Aris Ardila (Nat Youth) – 733; 5. Mohd Haziq Shali (Nat Youth) – 733; 5.Kang Bo Long (Elite Backup) - 733

Overseas Pool (Top 12 qualify): 1. Jonathan Ang (Spore) – 769; 2. Sam Cooley (Aus) – 769; 3. Kim Jong Wook (Kor) 764; 4. Tay Kun Long (Spore) – 748; 5. Keith Saw (Spore) – 747; 6.Dion Alexander (Aus) – 736;

Mixed Pool (Top 16 qualify): 1. David Candra (Indon) – 719; 1. Badin L (Thai) – 719; 3. Somjed K (Thai) – 713; 4. Hong Hea Sol (Korea) – 698; 5. Jonathan Ng (Spore) – 706; 6. Tony Wong (HK) – 705;

Defending Champion: Adrian David

Singles: 1. Keith Saw (Spore) – 740; 2. Keryn Delaney (Aus) – 732; 2. Dion Alexander (Aus) – 728;; 3. Dion Alexander (Aus) – 728;

GIRLS OPEN:

Local Pool (Top 11 qualify): 1. Zatil Iman (Nat Elite) – 798; 2. Hee Kar Yen (Nat Youth) – 737; 3. Esther Cheah (Nat Elite) – 737; 4. Dayang Khairuniza Dhiyana (nat Youth) – 730; 5. Fatin Syazliana (Elite Backup) – 727; 6. Siti Shazwani Ahmad Suhami (Nat Youth) – 715;

Overseas Pool (Top 11 qualify): 1, Shin Bo Hyun (Kor) – 776); 2.Tannya Roumimper (Indon) – 720; 3. Jeon Eun Hee (Korea) – 709; 4. Clara Lau (Spore) – 703; 5. Nur Azri Muhamad Azan (Spore) – 698; 6. Kristel Oh (Spore) – 680;

Mixed Pool (Top 11 qualify): 1. Wan Nur Atiqqa (Johor) – 684; 2. Sharon Koh (Nat Elite) – 681; 3. Hurul Ainul (Nat Youth) – 670; 4. Tengku Emanina (Elite Backup) – 664; 5. Lee Su Jin (Kor) – 658; 6. Jasmine Yeong Nathan (Spore) – 653;

Defending champion: Sin Li Jane

Singles: 1. Esther Cheah (Nat Elite) – 803; 2. Zatil Iman (Nat Elite) – 781; 3. Jeon Eun Hee – 735

BOYS GRADED:

(Top 32 qualify) 1. Dinnie Faliq (Mcca) – 757; 2. Choi Tae Sueng (Kor) – 730; 3. Kevin Reinhart (Ind) – 727; 4. Muhammad Azri (KL) – 721; 5. Muhd Aizudeen Mustaqim (Sel) – 716; 6. Kovarman Hairi (Mcca) – 71

Singles: 1. Dinie Faliq (Mcca) – 716; 2. Syed Mohd Hafiz Syed Hussein (Joh) – 689; 3. Kim Hwan Tae (Kor) - 681

GIRLS GRADED:

(Top 16 qualify 1. Chen-Szu Min (C. Taipei) – 704; 2. Kim Yeo Jin (Kor) – 704; 3. Selva Nivashini (Sel) – 687; 4. Nur Hidayah Adam (Ter) – 696; 5. Radin Nur Najwa (KL) – 680; 6. Nur Umirah (KL) – 675;

Singles: 1. Jeong Da Hea (Kor) – 684; 2. Fatin Azmira Khairul Faizi (Pk) – 655; Natasha Roslan Sel) - 653