21st January, Doha: Top Malaysian women, Shalin Zulkifli settled for third when she lost to Kirsten Penny of England in the second semifinal stepladder match 420-402 in the 7th Qatar International Open on Monday afternoon.

Malaysia's challenge for the coveted Qatar International Open title fizzled out when our bowling icon, Shalin Zulkifli lost out in the semifinals shootout this afternoon. Seeded third, Shalin was engaged in a close tussle with second-seed, Kirsten Penny of England. Kirsten won the first game 200-188.

In the second game, both bowlers battled it out but Kirsten withstood the challenge from Shalin to register a 220-214 win for a total 420-402 victory and earned her passage to the Grand Finals.

Earlier in the day when the top 16 finalists bowled 4-game Stage 3 finals in which the top 8 bowlers would proceed to the knockout stage Finals, Shalin Zulkifli finished third with 860 and Adrian Ang finished seventh with 845 total to proceed to the quarterfinals. Aaron Kong missed the cut in 14th place with 781.

In the quarterfinals, Shalin had to dig into her reserves to thwart off a persistent Choi Bok Eum of Korea with a 253-233 and 235-213 victory to make the semifinals. Seventh-seed Adrian Ang lost out to Kirsten Penny of England with 205-236 and 210-214 score line.

In the Grand Finals, which was telecast Live on Qatar TV, it was down to the wire to decide he Champion. After having 5 consecutive strikes, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong, stumbled on a disasterous 1,2,4 and 10 open window for Kirsten Penny to strike home to clinch the Qatar Open crown.

Shalin finished third after a higher loosing total pins of 418 while the other loosing semifinalist, Mubarak Al-Muraikhi of Qatar only managed 371 going down to Wu Siu Hong's 421 in the other semifinal match.

Detailed scores, please click Semifinal and Final Matches, Quarterfinal Matches and Stage 3 Finals.

Photos by Cheah Ban Cheng, MTBC.

20th January, Doha: Malaysian bowing queen, Shalin Zulkifli and Aaron Kong made the Stage 3 finals of the 7th Qatar International Open Bowling Championship with Adrian Ang earning an automatic qualification with a third place finish in the qualifying leaderboard.

With the qualifying rounds ending on late Saturday, newly-crowned Milo Junior All Stars champion, Adrian Ang earned an automatic qualification by virtue of finishing third overall in the leaderboard and directly into Stage 3 finals which is scheduled for Monday.

Four other Malaysians, Zatil Iman (17th-1346), Shalin Zulkifli and Aaron Kong (tie 24th-1326), and Mohd Noer Said (27th-1311) made the Top 36 Stage 1 finals except Zulmazran Zulkifli and Alex Liew who were knocked out in the final qualifying rounds.

Malaysian bowling queen, Shalin Zulkifli, who will turn professional and to join the American PBWA this year, bowled magnificently to finish on top in a field of 20 bowlers with 904. Aaron Kong and Mohd Noer Said joined Shalin into the next stage tieing in fourth place with 859.

Debutant, Zatil Iman, however ended her campaign after missing the cut to finish 11th with 787. In Stage 2, Aaron Kong continued his fine run to finish third behind leaders, Jason Belmonte of Australia and Remy Ong of Singapore with 844 on lines of 189, 230, 203 and 222. Shalin also made the Top 8 cut in seventh with 829.

Mohd Noer Said was in contention but a disasterous fourth game of 165 ended his hope to miss the cut by 55 pins on a total of 777. Both Aaron and Shalin will join youngster, Adrian Ang in the Stage 3 finals on Monday. Detailed scores, click Stage 2 Finals and Stage 1 Finals.

Photos by Cheah Ban Cheng, MTBC.

17th January, Doha: Newly-crowned Milo International Junior All Stars champion, Adrian Ang of Malaysia, put in an impressive performance topping Squad 19 of the on-going 7th Qatar International Open and improved from eighth overnight to second spot overall.

The 19-year-old National Elite squad member from Penang scorched lanes at Qatar International Bowling Centre with lines of 220, 255, 210, 224, 278 and 226 for a six-game total of 1413, averaging a whopping 235.

Zatil Iman, who was recently promoted to the Elite squd after winning three gold medals at the Bangkok SEA Games last month, dropped one spot down from fifth to sixth but has assured herself a place in the finals. Malaysia's only other women at the championship, Shalin Zulkifli improved from 25th to 12th after recording 1326 in Squad 19.

Mohd Noer Said, who was 14th overnight, dropped two spots to 16th on his 1311 posted in Squad 16 with Zulmazran Zulkifli sliding to 20th from 16th despite also improving his score of 1297 to 1306. Alex Liew could not make any improvements and drop further down to 30th with 1282.

Aaron Kong was the remaining Malaysian not in the top 36 cut for the finals in 50th position. UAE's Naif Oqab remained in pole position with 1419, just 6 pins ahead of Adrian Ang in second. Korea's Choi Bok Eum was pushed down one spot to third with 1411.

Tim Mack of USA and Mansoor Al-Awamy of Qatar rounded up the top 5 with 1379 and 1353 respectively.

The Top 36 at the end of the qualifying rounds till January 19, will make the cut for the finals scheduled for January 20 and 21. Detailed scores, click Qualifying Table.

Photos by Cheah Ban Cheng, MTBC.

16th January, Doha: Malaysian national bowlers competing in the 7th Qatar International Open Bowling Championship were making good headway as Zatil Iman and Adrian Ang finished in the top 10 of the qualifying table.

SEA Games triple gold medalist, Zatil Iman and in her first international assignment since being promoted to the national elite squad showed the way with a commendable performance reeling off lines of 209, 188, 209, 232, 226 and 234 to record 1346 with 48 pins handicap competing against the men.

Zatil topped Squad 15 and ended up fifth in the overall qualifying table. Newly-crowned Milo International Junior All Stars champion, Adrian Ang made his presence felt with a respectable 1332 averaging 222 from lines of 207, 225, 193, 239, 257 and 211 to take up eighth position overall.

Zulmaran Zulkifli's first attempt of 1297 in Squad 15 was betterd with 1306 in his next squad to finish 16th overall, just two spots behind

teammate, Mohd Noer Said who knocked down 1311 to occupy 14th spot. Shalin Zulkifli also posted a better second squad to total 1284 for 25th position.

Newly-crowned Selangor Super Classic champion, Alex Liew recorded 1272 for 26th place while Aaron Kong could only manage 1206 after two squads for a lowly 42nd position. Naif Oqab of UAE led the table with 1419 from Squad 14 with Korea's Choi Bok Eum in second with 1411.

Tim Mack of USA took up third spot with 1379 followed by Mansoor Al-Awamy of Qatar and Zatil Iman in fourth and fifth spots respectively. The Top 36 at the end of the qualifying rounds till January 19, will make the cut for the finals scheduled for January 20 and 21. Detailed scores, click Qualifying Table.

Photos by Cheah Ban Cheng, MTBC.