11th May, Kuantan: Nazira Nasir of Pahang and Nur Shahira Bte Abdul Manaf gave their mums a pleasant Mother's Day gift by winning the Girl's Open and Girl's Under-16 crown of the SportsExcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC Junior Circuit Pahang leg on Sunday evening.

Nazira, who was the runnerup in the Girl's Under-16 in in the 2007 GP Finals and had never won a title, finally broke the ice and on a timely fashion. With the majority of strong girl's open bowlers giving this leg a miss due to centralised training for next month's SUKMA Games, Nazira got a rare chance to claim her first-ever circuit title.

But the 16-year-old had to work for the victory by first leading Stage 1 on Friday, then maintained her lead in the quarter-final to advance into the knockout stage as topseed. The Pahang lass first dispated fourth-seed, Farhan Zafira of Negeri Sembilan, 373-352 over the 2-game semi-final.

She then went on to outclassed her challenger, Nur Alyany Bte Lahat Dadok of Johor, 440-347 to win the title and presented the pleasant give to her mum, who was by her side as she contested the final title match.

The second-seed, Nur Alyany remained second dispite ousting third-seed, Natasya Adam of Kuala Lumpur, 383-352 to reach the finals. Natasya and Farhan also retained third and fourth after the knockout stage.

Selangor leg champion, Nur Shahira Bte Abdul Manaf also gave her mum a pleasant Mother's Day gift by capturing the Girl's Under-16 crown. Her mum could not have asked for a better present when both her daugthers reached the finals.

Nur Shamira edged eighth-seed, Nur Shahira, 192-191 in the first game but went down to her elder sister, 169-195 to give Nur Shahira the victory, 351-386 total pinfalls. The champion had reached the finals edging out second-seed, Hanan Fateha of Kuala Lumpur, 329-325 in the semi-final while Nur Shamira defeated SSBP's Nur Azlin, 383-225 in the other semi.

Nur Shamira, who finished third in the quarter-final behind Hanan Fateha and topseed, Ainaa Khairina of Perak as Nur Shahira squeezed into the knockout stage in eighth position.

Meanwhile, Syed Mohd Asyraf of Perak and Ros Quayairi of Negeri Sembilan captured the Boy's Open and Boy's Under-16 titles. The sixth-seed Perak youth defeated fourth-seed, Mohd Afnan Shafiq of Pahang, 362-280 to win his first-ever junior circuit title.

The champion reached the finals by ousting seventh-seed, Syed Mohd Hafiz of Johor, 388-341 in the second semi-final match while Mohd Afnan took out KL's Louis Liaw, 395-360 in the first semi. Syed Mohd Asyraf cruised into the semi by beating third-seed, Nazrim B Nordin of Pahang, 430-320 in the round 1 knockout stage earlier.

Negeri Sembilan's Ros Qusyairi snatched the Boy's Under-16 title by edging Perak's Muhd Amsyar, 365-363 in the title match to take his first junior circuit title. Ros Qusyairi, who was seeded sixth, dispatched KL's

Mohd Qusyairi Amir, 401-360 in the quarter-final and went on to book his spot in the finals by defeating fifth-seed, Amir Affendi of Selangor, 409-313 in the semi.

Muhd Amsyar, who ousted second-seed, Mohd Hanif of Pahang, 381-363 in the first round, also eliminated topseed, Mohd Aili Amyrul of SSBP, 437-433 in the semi before his fine run came to an end when faced with Ros Qusyairi in the finals.

Muhd Hafiz Fikri of Selangor, who led the preliminary round with 985, maintained his lead with a superb 1137 to give himself a total of 2122 to claim the Boy's Under-12 title.

Natasha Roslan, who was third overnight with 972, improved in her finals with 1058 to claimed the Girl's Under-12 crown to give Selangor a double.

Photos by Ms Tay Li Neo.

9th May, Kuantan: Local youth girl, Nazira Nasir snatched the lead in the Girl's Open Stage 1 qualifying round of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC Junior Circuit fourth leg while SSBP's Mohd Aili Amyrul claimed pole in the Boy's Open division on Friday evening.

Nur Alyany Bt Lahat Dadok of Johor set the early pace with a 232 opening game in the 8-games Stage 1 qualifying round underway at Mega Lanes Kuantan with local youth, Nazira Nasir trailing in second.

The Johorean continued her blistering pace to lead the field with consistent lines of 183, 189, 168, 157, 202 and 185 while Nazira stayed behind the leader in second and narrowing the gap to 17 pins by the seventh game.

A disasterous 159 in Nur Alyany's final game allowed Nazira to snatch pole when she shot 198 in the eighth game. Nazira totaled 1480, 22 pins ahead of Nur Alyany, who settled for second with 1458. Negeri Sembilan's Farhan Zafira Zafrin finished a distant third on 1342.

Meanwhile, Mohd Aili Amyrul B Rosli of Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawar, Johor claimed pole position in the Boy's Open division with 1587 and the highest average of the 8-game Stage 1 qualifying round.

SSBP's Nazmi Ziyad B Nasir set the early pace in the first two games with 213 and 183. His teammate, Mohd Aili Amyrul knocked down 206, 185, 212 and 187 to take over the lead at the halfway mark and building up a 31 pins margin over Pahang's Mohd Hanif B Mohd Bakri in second.

Mohd Aili and Mohd Hanif locked on a fierce battle and tied after the sixth game with 1165 and with nothering separating the duo. But Mohd Aili prevailed with 202 and 220 in his last two games to draw clear of Mohd Hanif and ending in pole with 1587.

The Pahang youth, Mohd Hanif settled for second with 1544, 43 pins adrift as Amir Affendi of Selangor stromed home to snatch third spot with 1512. Mohd Khairul Azri, who was trailing the leaders, finished fourth with 1511.

Muhd Amirul B Che Mat of Kedah, topped the Boy's Under-16 Stage 1 round with a total of 1596 followed by Perak's Mohd Zafiq Syaddiq in second with 1561 and Johor's Syed Mohd Hafiz third with 1523.

Selangor's Shaun Chan Zhie Hsien and Mohd Fadli Ramli of Negeri Sembilan rounded up the top 5 in fourth and fifth positions respectively. Local squad leader, Mohd Afnan Syafiq of Pahang ended up in 10th position.

In the Girl's Under-16 division, Ainaa Khairina Bt Azman of Perak literally led from start to finish and ending with 201, 202 and 204 to cruise to the top of the field with 1542 and a comfortable margin of 107 pins.

Selangor's Sharifah Marissa and Nur Shamira Bt Abdul Manaf took second and third place with 1435 and 1432 respectively. Muhd Hafiz Fikri of Selangor and Nur Ain Bt Mustafa of Kedah topped the Boy's and Girls Under-12 qualifying round in the lead.

All four divisions will resume tomorrow with the 6-games quarter-finals with the top 8 advancing into the elimination knockout finals. The Under-12 division will play another 6 games to determine the winners.

Photos by Ms Tay Li Neo.

8th May, Kuantan: Newcomers, Mohd Afnan Syafiq B Jaafar Sidek and Noor Afiqah Bte Abdul Halim of Pahang, topped the Boy's and Girl's Under-16 squads for local youths in the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC Junior Circuit fourth leg at Mega Lanes, Kuantan on Thursday evening.

Muhd Asyraf B Abdul Rahim set a cracking pace with a 234 opening game but shot 154 in the second to allow Muhd Nazerin Sahrom to take over the lead, 41 pins ahead of Nur Afiq Hakim B Nazarudin.

Two back-to-back high games of 221 and 200 saw newcomer, Mohd Afnan Syafiq surging to the front at the halway mark with 764, 4 pins ahead of Nazrim B Hj. Nordin. The 15-year-old continued posting 181 and 192 in his next two games to maintain the lead while others failed to make any progress.

Despite a low 164 in the seventh game, a 181 in his final game was enough to end the 8-game Stage 1 in the lead. Mohd Afnan Syafiq amassed a total of 1482, 13 pins ahead of the fast finishing Mohd Fahmi B Khairul Anuar in second on 1469.

Nazrim B Hj. Nordin settled for third with 1445 followed by Mohd Shahril Afifie and Mohd Faiz Afiq B Jaffar rounding up the top 5.

In the Girl's Under-16 division, leader, Noor Afiqah Bt Abdul Halim finally prevailed to clinch pole in the first stage after a keen tussle with Tunku Elliya Bt Tunku Osman. The duo were exchanging lead from game 2 onwards.

Noor Afiqah shot 206 in her final game to total 1370 for the lead, as Tunku Elliya could only manage a 166 to settle for second spot with 1328, 42 pins adrift. Anis Syazwanie Bt Wan Abdullah finished third with 1291.

Competition will resume tomorrow with the Stage Squad A for Terengganu and Kedah youth boys while the girls will contest their Stage 1 in the afternoon. Squad B will commence in the afternoon with the last squad for the Boy's and Girl's Open.

Photos by Ms Tay Li Neo.