25th June, J.Bahru: National youth, Tengku Afnan B Tengku Zahari of Kedah captured his back-to-back title with a superb win in the Boy's Open division of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC Junior Circuit Johor leg Sunday evening while Megalanes Shah Alam's Siti Nursyakila Mardyana took the Girl's crown.

Tengku Afnan, who won the Penang leg title just two weeks ago, maintained his form to defeat challenger, Muhammad Saman Mohd Shuib of Pahang, 189-175 in the final stepladder match to claim his second successive circuit title.

Tengku Afnan had earlier, topped the 8-game Round-robin Matchplay semifinals before the stepladder finals with a total of 4230. Muhammad Saman settled for second despite winning the first match by defeating second-seed and third leg champion, Fahmi Bahri of Johor and National youth champion, Noor Afizal Azizan of Negeri Sembilan, 214-192-181.

The runner-up had finished third with 4149 behind second-placed, Fahmi Bahri on 4216 while Noor Afizal was fourth with 4132. Quarterfinal leader, Khairul Anwar Mohd Yusof missed the stepladder finals by just 1 pin finishing fifth with 4131.

In the Girl's Open division, fourth-seed, Siti Nursyakila Mardyana of Megalanes Shah Alam upset top-seed, Nicole Teong of Kuala Lumpur to claim the title by defeating tha latter, 198,182 to Teong's 173,173 in the two match stepladder finals.

The champion moved up the ladder after she knocked out second-seed, Siti Shazwani of Johor and third-seed, June Lim Wai Jun of Pahang, 203-157-161 before going on to take a well deserve victory. Teong, who topped all three rounds, settled for second with Siti Shazwani third and June Lim fourth.

Meanwhile, the happiest youth in this leg was probably Hazwan Alias of Pahang after having squeezed into the semifinals in eighth yesterday. The 16-year-old slowly crawled his way to make the stepladder finals in third.

Hazwan defeated second-seed, Chaim Zi Kuan of Johor and fourth-seed, Teh Lit Qing of Perak, 200-152-189 before setting up his final match with top-seed, Muhammad Fazrin Khairul Faizi of Perak. The champion had to earn his victory the hard way taking the finals into two matched. Hazwan took the first match, 178-152 before edging Muhammad Fazrin, 216-209 for the win.

SUKMA XI two Gold medalist, Syaidatul Afifah Bte Badrul Hamidi of Perak, made amends after finishing second in the last leg in Penang, to claim her second circuit title. The champion had taken her maiden win in the first leg in Perak in March this year.

Syaidatul Afifah, who finished top at the end of the Round-robin semifinals earlier, defeated challenger, Sharifah Nurfarhana of Megalanes KL, 168-163 in the final deciding match after loosing the first, 183-186.

Third-seed, Sharifah settled for second despite ousting second-seed, Farah Izzazaya of Pahang and fourth-seed, Haslinda Bte Jusli of SSBP, Johor 206-151-196 in the first match. The next leg will be held from 14th - 16th July, at Megalanes Kuala Lumpur.

Photos by Ms Tay Li Neo, MTBC.

24th June, J.Bahru: Perak's Khairul Anwar Mohd Yusof took over the lead of the Boy's Open after the quarterfinals of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC Junior Circuit Johor leg ended Saturday evening while the lead in the other three divisions were remained unchanged.

Khairul Anwar, who was third in Stage 1 played earlier today, posted 1137 in the 6-game quarterfinals to take over the lead of the Boy's Open division with an accummulated 14-game total of 2690. Penang leg champion, Tengku Afnan B Tenglu Zahari of Kedah also moved up to second with 2686 while overnight leader, Fahmi Bahri dropped to third with 2651.

Pahang's Johnathan Chan Tian Sheng also dropped from second to fourth on 2627 while the biggest mover was Pyramid Youth's Mohd Aziem Azemi from 15th in Stage 1 to take up fifth with 2607 after chalking up a 6-game score of 1156.

Mohd Syazwan of Kelantan (2594), Muhammad Saman Mohd Shuib of Pahang (2572) and Negeri Sembilan's Noor Afizal Azizan (2565) finished sixth to eighth to make the cut for tomorrow's Round-robin matchplay semifinals.

Meanwhile, Stage 1 leader, Nicole Teong of Kuala Lumpur continued to lead the Girl's Open division after totalling 2716 to lead eight girls into the next round. Siti Shazwani Bte Ahmad Suhaimi of Johor moved up one notch to second with 2659 pushing down Megalanes Shah Alam's Siti Nursyakila Mardyana to third with 2597.

Ex-national youth, Low Xin Pin of Kuala Lumpur and Ili Syazana of Selangor completed the top 5 with Nadya Izzati Bte Noor Azman of Kedah, Nazrinnah Bte Mohd Kamil of Perak and June Lim Wai Jun of Pahang making the next round in sixth to eighth.

Muhammad Fazrin Khairul Faizi of Perak stretched his lead in the Boy's Graded division with a comfortable margin of 231 pins. The 15-year-old totalled 2824 making him the only bowler in this leg to surpass the 200-mark average.

Yap Chee Kwan of Kuala Lumpur moved up from eight overnight to take up second position with 2593 while Nazmi Ziyad B Nasir posted a superb 1156 to haul himself from 16th to third on a total of 2582.

The lead in the Girl's Graded division remained unchanged with Sharifah Nurfarhana of Megalanes Kuala Lumpur topping the field with 2554, 55 pins ahead of SUKMA XI triple Gold medalist, Syaidatul Afifah of Perak in second with 2498.

Second leg champion, Farah Izzazaya of Pahang, finished third with 2466 followed by Haslinda Bte Jusli of SSBP, Johor fourth with 2442. Hanan Fateha (KUL-2387), Nazira Nasir (PAH-2377), Adlin Nadhirah Ghazali (MG.S/A-2376) and Leisha Abdul Manan (KUL-2354) made the cut for the semifinals.

The top 8 from each division will play the 8-game Round-robin matchplay semifinals Sunday and the the top 4 at the end of the semifinals will qualify for the stepladder finals.

Photos by Ms Tay Li Neo, MTBC.

23rd June, J.Bahru: National youth and third leg champion, Fahmi Bahri of Johor led the Boy's Open Stage 1 of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC Junior Circuit Johor leg while Nicole Teong of Kuala Lumpur topped the girl's division Saturday morning.

Fahmi Bahri, who won the third leg in Kuala Lumpur and the SUKMA XI Trios Gold medal, was on fire at Ampang Superbowl Leisure Mall to chalk up an 8-game total of 1569 in Stage 1 of the Boy's Open division. The Johor youth posted lines of 202, 169, 247, 224, 189, 175, 165 and 198.

Asian Schools representative, Johnathan Chan Tian Sheng of Pahang took second spot with a total of 1560, just 9 pins from the leader. Khairul Anwar Mohd Yusof of Perak finished third with 1553 followed by fourth leg champion, Tengku Afnan B Tengku Zahari of Kedah in fifth with 1521.

National Youth champion, Noor Afizal Azizan of Negeri Sembilan didi well to stay with the leaders to tie in sixth position with Mohd Syazwan Hafiz of Kelantan with 1516 ahead of another national youth, Afiq Rifqi of Johor in seventh with 1496.

The lead of the Girl's Open division went to Kuala Lumpur's Nicole Teong, who posted an impressive 1585. Second spot went to Megalanes Shah Alam's Siti Nursyakila Mardyana with 1522 while SUKMA XI Trios Bronze medalist, Siti Shazwani of Johor finished third with 1506.

Pahang's June Lim Wai Jun and SUKMA XI Team Silver medalist, Nadya Izzati Bte Noor Azman of Kedah shared fourth spot with 1486. The top 16 boys and top 12 girls made the cut for the quarterfinals, which will be contested later today.

Photos by Ms Tay Li Neo, MTBC.

23rd June, J.Bahru: Muhammad Fazrin Khairul Faizi of Perak grabbed the lead of the Boy's Graded division of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC Junior Circuit Johor Leg underway at Ampang Superbowl Leisure Mall Friday evening.

Muhammad Fazrin, who led Squad A of the Boy's Graded Stage 1 in the morning, remained top of the division after Squad B has completed their 8-game Stage 1. The 15-year-old winner of the third leg in Kuala Lumpur last month, posted lines of 195, 223, 202, 219, 228, 189, 208 and 205 for a total of 1669.

Trained by his father and Perak's chief coach, Khairul Faizi, Muhammad Fazrin comes from a family of keglers. His sister, Fatin Azmira was crowned the Girl's champion during the Cari Juara Grand Slam in May.

Although Muhammad Fazrin did do so well then, he did join his sister to compete in the Singapore Open and finished a creditable fifth in the Under-16 Youth Masters. Yusuf Abdul Raof of Kuala Lumpur snatched second spot with a final game of 222 for a total of 1500, 169 pins behind the leader. Tan Kai Xian, who was second in Squad A settled for third with 1498, just 2 pins adrift.

Penang leg second runner-up, Teh Lit Qing of Perak and Mohd Aili Amyrul of SSBP, Johor completed the top 5 in fourth and fifth positions with 1494 and 1469 respectively. The top 28 made the cut for tomorrow's quarterfinals.

In the girl's division, Sharifah Nurfarhana of Megalanes KL, edged Pahang leg champion, Farah Izzazaya of Pahang to take the lead with 1435, just 6 pins ahead. Farah settled for second spot with 1429 while twice runner-up, Adlin Nadhirah Ghazali of Megalanes Shah Alam took third spot with 1414.

Nazira Nasir of Pahang and SUKMA XI All Events Gold medalist, Syaidatul Afifah of Perak finished fourth and fifth with 1399 and 1386 respectively. The top 28 girls made the cut for tomorrow's quarterfinals. The Girls and Boys Open division will play their 8-game Stage 1 Saturday morning.

Photos by Ms Tay Li Neo, MTBC.