24th August, P.Jaya: Aliff Ahmad of Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawal struck off a strong challenge from more experienced though youngster Adrian Ang of Penang to win the Boys Open Title of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MSSM National Junior Circuit 2002's GP Finals at Pyramid Megalanes here this afternoon.

Aliff, 16 years old Form 4 student from Johor Bahru, shot an impressive 234 in the sudden death roll off to defeat Adrian who managed only 171. Earlier Adrian knocked down a super 256 to beat Mohd Wafiuddin of Melaka (212) and Mohd Hafizz Yusoff of Kedah (188) to set up the challenge with Aliff. Adrian shot 214 vs Aliff's 202 in the first match before the sudden death.

3rd in the family of 4, Aliff started bowling three years ago when he joined Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawal in Johor. His game improved since the beginning this year with a second place finish in the Melaka Leg. "The success in winning the GP Finals has given my a lot of encouragement. I shall work harder to try and do better in future tournaments," said Aliff after medal presentation.

Hot favorite Voon Kim Ling of Penang won the Girls Open title as expected defeating Enaz Diana of Kelantan with 224 vs 186 in the sudden death. Enaz won the right to challenge Voon after winning the first step-ladder match 211 vs Audrey Lu of Sarawak's 177 and Elaine Lam of Perak's 180. Enaz almost provided an upset in the first game beating Voon 190 vs 188 to set up the sudden death. The 16 year-old Voon from Penang will for sure be a strong contender for medals in the forth coming SUKMA with the way she is bowling right now.

Christyn Chew of Selangor easily disposed off Siti Mardyanna 202 vs 164 to win the Girls Graded title. Siti Mardyanna earlier won the right by beating Charlotte Sak and Irene Lee (defeated Charlotte on 9th and 10th frame after tied 226 with her and Irene Lee shot 196).

Kevin Lok of Sarawak defeated Aiman Kelana of Selangor 197 vs 190 to win the Boys Graded title. Aiman Kelana had earlier won the match between 3rd-seed Zaid Izlan (195) of Selangor and 2nd-seed Ong Boon Hock (174) of Melaka with 212 for a crack at the title.

Story by Sidney Tung, Hon. Secretary/MTBC

Step-Ladder Finals

23rd August, P.Jaya: Penang's SUKMA bowler - Voon Kim Ling tops the Girls Open division after the two blocks of 6 games with 2451 total in the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MSSM National Junior Circuit's GP Finals at Pyramid Megalanes, Sunway Pyramid this afternoon.

Kim Ling, winner of the Penang and Perak Legs and was the top ranked bowler in West Malaysia after six legs, averaged 204.25 over 12 games to lead the top 8 bowlers going into the Round Robin Semi-Finals tomorrow morning. She had the highest game bowled today in the whole field including the boys with 275 in her 10th game. Her lines of scores were 220, 185, 168, 205, 257, 191, 192, 151, 205, 275, 213 & 189.

Perak's Elaine Lam, winner of the Pahang and Johor Legs is a distance second with 2233 averaging 186.08. Kelantan 's Enaz Diana Ezanee is in 3rd spot with 2225 followed by Sarawak's Ting King Yi in 4th place with 2213. The top 8 bowlers will play round robin and only top 4 will proceed to step-ladder grand finals.

Aliff Bin Ahmad of Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawal finished top in the Boys Open division with 2499 averaging 208.25. Aliff started with a poor 131, but recovered well with 214 , 190, 258, 233, 214, 222, 224, 200, 205, 202, & 206 . Penang's 14 years old Adrian Ang is in 2nd spot with 2426 followed by Ahmad Fauzan Badruddin and Mohd Faizal Bin Fadzil both from Negeri Sembilan on 3rd and 4th place respectively with 2379 and 2378.

Selangor dominated in the girls graded division occupying the top 3 positions with Siti Nursyakila Mardyanna topping the list with 2234, followed by Christyn Chew in 2nd with 2211 and Charlotte Sak in 3rd place with 2207. Penang's Irene Lee is 4th with 2138 and Debbie Kong of Sarawak in 5th place with 2078.

Kevin Lok of Sarawak leads the Boys Graded division with 2423 averagin 201.92. Selangor's Aiman Kelana in 2nd with 2392 followed by Khoo Ren Chung also from Selangor in 3rd with 2360. Melaka 's Ong Boon Hock and Adrian Loh occupied 4th and 5th spots with 2353 and 2344 respectively.

Top top 8 bowlers in all 4 categories will bowl round robin tomorrow morning, top 4 at the end of the Round Robin Semi - Finals will qualify for step-ladder grand finals.

Story by Sidney Tung, Hon. Secretary/MTBC