9th April, Kunatan: Top-seeds, Irene Lee of Penang and Muhamad Alif of Johor captured the Girl's and Boy's Open titles of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MSSM Junir Circuit Pahang leg which concluded Sunday evening.

Top-seed, Irene Lee of Penang defeated challenger and the first stepladder match winner, Dhira Marzuki of SSBP, Johor, 189-182 to claim the Girl's Open title.

Dhira, who settled for first runner-up, had earlier knocked out second-seed, Nur Hidayah Nurdin of Negeri Sembilan and third-seed, Tengku Emanina Bte Tengku Zahari of Kedah, 197-165-143 to face off with the champion. Nur Hidayah dropped one spot to third after the stepladder match while Tengku Emanina ended up in fourth position.

In the Girl's Graded division, Farah Izzazaya of Pahang, easily defeated challenger and first stepladder match winner, Hanan Fateha of Kuala Lumpur, 225-137 to claim her first-ever Junior Circuit title. Hanan did well to take first runner-up despite knocking out second-seed, Haslinda Jusli of SSBP, Johor and Aldin Nadhirah of Mega Lanes Shah Alam, 201-170-136 in the earlier match. Haslinda and Adlin settled dropped one rung each to third and fourth positions.

The Boy's Open Masters crown went to top-seed, Mohamed Alif of Johor after he edged challenger and quaterfinal leader, Fahmi Bahri of Johor, 169-168 in the deciding match. Fahmi had forced Mohamed to the sudden-death final match after he took the first match, 232-223 before lossing in the crucial match.

Fahmi settled for second despite beating third-seed, Adrian Charles Dragon of Penang and outclassing fourth-seed, Tengku Afnan Bin Tengku Zahari of Kedah, 247-204-154 in the first stepladder match.

Meanwhile, quaterfinal leader and third-seed, Muhammad Fajrin of Perak, defeated top-seed over two matches to claim the victory in the Boy's Graded division.

Mohammad Fajrin had forced Khoo Beng Khai of Penang into the sudden-death decider after he beat Khoo, 219-175 before going on to win the second match, 179-158. The champion also edged second-seed, Mohd Ramdhan of Kedah and fourth-seed, Birhakim Rozaimee of Kuala Lumpur, 193-190-192 to have a crack at the title.

A total of 64 Gril's Graded, 118 Boy's Graded, 12 Girl's Open and 32 Boy's Open making a total of 226 youths competing in this leg. The next leg will be the Kuala Lumpur leg to be held at Mega Lanes Kuala Lumpur in Sri Petaling from the 5th to 7th May, 2006.

Photos by William Koh, MTBC.

9th Apr, Kuantan: Stage 1 leader, Irene Lee of Penang continue to lead the Girl's Open division after the quarterfinals were played in the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MSSM Junior Circuit Pahang Leg.

Irene, who posted 1565 to build up a 34 pins lead in Stage 1, continued her fine form to take pole position with a score of 1155 in the 6-game quarterfinals and a total of 2720. Nur Hidayah Nurdin of Negeri Sembilan also maintained second position after knocking down a total of 2600 with Dhira Marzuki of SSBP, Johor third with 2585.

Cheryl Cheong (MGL/KL-2554), Siti Nursyakila Mardyana (MGL/SA-2551), Jerusha Chan (PAH-2547), Tengku Emanina (KED-2501) and Hazry Faizura (NSE-2308) made the top 8 Round-robin matchplay semifinals from fourth to eighth positions respectively.

Meanwhile, National youth and PLN Klasik champion, Fahmi Bahri of Johor, took over the lead of the Boy's Open division at the end of the quarterfinals. Fahmi, who was 13th in Stage 1, stepped up his gear to post the highest 6-game series of 1371 for a 14-game total of 2826.

Mohammad Alif gave Johor a 1-2 finish when he retained second position with a total of 2787 with Stage 1 leader, Mohd Hanif Mohd Bakri dropping to a distant third on 2692. Ex-national youth, Kurtwin Low of MSN-KL improved from sixth to fourth place with 2674.

Tengku Afnan (KED-2654), Adrian C Dragon (PEN-2617), Khairul Diaz B Din (JOH-2617) and Syed Muzzaffar (PAH-2608) made Sunday's top 8 round-robin matchplay finals from fifth to eighth positions.

Muhammad Fajrin of Perak and and Farah Izzazaya of Pahang continued to lead the Boy's and Girl's Graded divisions at the end of their quarterfinals. The top 8 from each division had also made the cut for Sunday's semifinals.

Photos by William Koh, MTBC.

8th April, Kuantan: National youth rookie, Irene Lee of Penang spinned to the top of the Girl's Open Stage 1 of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MSSM Junior Circuit second leg while local boy, Muhd Hanif Mohd Bakri topped the boy's division.

Irene, who won two Bronze medals in the National Interstate championship, was in her element knocking down lines of 223, 200, 214, 188, 180, 224, 185 and 151 for a 33 pins lead on an 8-game total of 1565. Nur Hidayah Nurdin of Negeri Sembilan took second place with Dhira Marzuki of SSBP in third spot with 1523.

Jerusha Chan of Pahang and Tengku Emanina Zahari of Kedah tied for fourth spot with 1491 followed by Cheryl Cheong of Mega Lanes Kuala Lumpur in sixth position with 1493.

Muhd Hanif posted lines of 195, 204, 170, 194, 183, 215, 226, 159 for an 8-game total of 1546 to lead Mohammad Alif of Johor by 29 pins. Alif totaled 1517 for second spot with Mohd Syazwan Hafiz of Kelantan and Khairul Diaz Bin Din of Johor, 9 pins adrift in joint-third on 1508.

Ex-national youths, Tajul Aswad of Penang and Kurtwin Low of Kuala Lumpur completed the top 6 with 1502 and 1499 respectively.

Mohd Haikal Downs (JOH-1495), Muhd Shahril Hafiz (MG.S/A-1482), Alex Choo Jain Lin (KED-1480), Tengku Afnan (KED-1474), Tengku Ariff (KED-1474), Adrian Charles Dragon (PEN-1455), Fahmi Bahri (JOH-1455), Muhamad Saman (PAH-1455), Syed Muzzaffar (PAH-1436) and Sean Hooi (PAH-1421) made the cut for the quarterfinals which will be played later over 6 games later.

Photos by William Koh, MTBC.

7th April, Kuantan: Perak youth, Muhammad Fajrin pipped Squad A leader to take the overall lead in Boy's Graded Stage 1 of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC Junior Circuit when Squad A and B combined at Mega Lanes Kuantan Friday evening.

Muhammad Fajrin set a cracking pace when Squad B took to the lanes in the afternoon. The leader posted 1539 to take over the lead by 18 pins from Penang's Khoo Beng Khai in second position with 1521. Muhd Ramdhan did well to stay with the leaders, just 3 pins from Khoo in third with 1518.

Amir Hihsan Noor of Pahang, who led Squad A in the morning, finished eighth overall on a total of 1441.

The top 48 boys made the cut for tomorrow's Stage 2 quarterfinals when they will bowl another 6 games. The field will be cut down to 8 each proceeding to the round-robin finals on Sunday, 9th April. The Girl's and Boys Open divisions will contest their Stage 1 tomorrow morning.

Photos by William Koh, MTBC

7th April, Kuantan: Farah Izzazaya of Pahang got off to a great start to top the Girl's Graded Stage 1 of the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MSSM Junior Circuit second leg at Mega Lanes Kuantan Friday evening.

Despite starting off with a low game of 145, the 15-year-old gradually picked up the pace to string together lines of 204, 179, 201, 196, 174, 237 and 204 to end the 8-game Stage 1 series with a total of 1540.

Trailing the leader was newcomer, Nurul Ainul Bte Abu Razak of Negeri Sembilan in second with 1492 followed by Adlin Nadhirah Ghazali of Mega Lanes Shah Alam in third spot with 1455. Zety Nabila of Kedah and Haslinda Jusli from SSBP, Johor rounded up the top 5 with 1429 and 1413 respectively.

The top 28 girls from Stage I will proceed to tomorrow's Stage II quarter finals for another 6 games. At the end of the quarter finals, the top 8 will make the cut for the round-robin finals on Sunday, 9th April.

Squad A of the Boy's Graded division will take on to the lanes this afternoon while Squad B will play in the evening. The top 48 at the end of the Stage I will move on to the next round.

Photos by William Koh, MTBC