6th August, Romeoville: Shalin's winning streak came to an abrupt end when she lost to second seed, Trisha Reid of Columbus, Ohio, 180-237 the semi-finals match of the US Women's Open 2008 at Brunswick Zone XL Wednesday evening.

Malaysia's Shalin Zulkifli started off well in the first three frames to take an early lead but hit a bad patch in the fourth frame with a 2-4-10 split and seemingly perfect pocket only to see a 7-10 split in the sixth frame.

Another 4-8-10 split saw the hope of Shalin's fight back vanquished as Reid eased home for a 237-180 victory over the Malaysian. However, Shalin won the admiration of the cheering crowd for her strong performance in this US Women's Open event.

Being a debutant, Shalin carved a name for herself to join the elite of US Women's Pro circuit commencing this October. It has been a memorable outing for Shalin, who became the first Malaysian to qualify for the PBA Pro Tour Tuesday.

In the championship match betwwen Kim Terrell-Kearney of Dover, Del., and Reid, Terrell built an early lead and held on to win her second US Women's Open and her third career major title. She eran US$25,000 for the victory while Reid took home US$15,000.

Terrell-Kearney narrowly advanced to the championship match with a 216-202 victory over top seed, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of N. Richland Hills, Texas. In a dramatic finish, Dorin-Ballard missed a 10 pin in the final frame to open the door for Terrell-Kearney.

"It's been a great week, and it's really satisfying to reach my goal of 10 career titles," Terrell-Kearney said. "Winning the Open is the pinnacle of most bowlers' careers and to win it twice is amazing." Shalin and Dorin-Ballard tied for third spot and earned US$8,500 each.

Photos courtesy of Bowl.com.

4th August, Romeoville: Malaysia's Shalin Zulkifli, who created history Tuesday to by qualifying for the PBA Women's Tour, moved closer to the title of the US Women's Open 2008 after winning her Round of 16 and quarter-finals matches at Brunswick Zone XL Bowling Center.

Shalin defeated Jodi Woessner of Oregon, Ohio, 266-194 while Kim Terrell-Kearney of Dover, Del., edged Diandra Asbaty of Chicago, 194-191, as both winners moved on to Wednesy night's semi-finals. The two players who will join them will be determined on Wednesday afternoon.

In the second quarter-final match, Shalin started with five consecutive strikes to pull away early and never look back against Woessner. In the Round of 16, the Malaysian defeated Tennelle Milligan of Costa Mesa, Calif., 192-178 while Woessner took out Kristal Wilson of Lawren, Kansas, 246-192.

"I was a bit nervous in the first match because it was the first time I've been on TV in the States," said Shalin. "In the second match, I was a bit more relaxed and I touched up the surface of the ball I was using so that it gave me a bit more room."

"It's a little scary at the start, but sometimes that can be to your advantage because you feel like you have nothing to lose," Terrell-Kearney said. "I was playing catch up and had to find something to strike, so I was lucky when I changed balls that I found something."

Asbaty knocked off Maxine Nable of Australia, 227-205, as Nable missed two easy spares in the match to fall behind. Terrell-Kearney advanced by starting with four consecutive strikes in a 212-190 victory over Brenda Mack of Indianapolis.

Eight players will take part in the second half of the Round of 16 and quarter-finals on Wednesday beginning at noon.

All of the Round of 16, quater-finals, semi-finals and championship match will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by ESPN.

Photos by Cheah Ban Cheng, MTBC and courtesy of Bowl.com.

4th August, Romeoville: Malaysia's bowling icon, Shalin Zulkifli created a new chapter in the history of Malaysian Bowling to become the first women to qualify for the PBA Women's Tour as well as finishing among the top 6 bowlers in the US Women's Open 2008.

It was a memorable day for Shalin Zulkifli as she put up an awesome performance to emerge fourth in the PBA Women's Tour Trials and fulfilled her childhood dreams of becoming a full fledged top PBA women's Pro Tour bowler.

The top 12 players, who advanced to the PBA Women's Series will be featured in the seven events conducted alongside Denny's PBA Tour stops this season.

In the US Women's Open fourth block of 8 games and bowling on Chameleon (40 feet long) oiling pattern, Shalin magnificently produced the lines of 194, 233, 228, 192, 203, 194, 201 and 226 for a satisfactory 1671 total.

Her four blocks aggregate of 6740 total averaging 210.63 earned Shalin a sixth place finish and emerged as the best non-American International achiever.

Zandra Aziela crashed out in 36th placing with a fourth round score of 1557 series and 6411 total. Esther Cheah went for a roller coaster ride with 1503 series total resulting in a cumulative 6279 total to finish on 54th place. Wendy Chai who took the lanes earlier this morning, started off promisingly but ended with 1560 series and a 5996 overall total to claim the 90th spot.

Overnight leader, Carol Dorin-Ballard of N. Richland Hills, Texas, held onto the top qualifier spot after 32 games with 6963. Trisha Reid of Columbus, Ohio and Kristal Wlson of Lawrence, Kansas took second and third spots with 6840 and 6785 respectively.

In the top 16 knockout format of play, sixth-sed, Shalin Zulkifli shall face off with Team USA's Tennelle Milligan seeded 14th in a 1 game roll-off on TV lanes at 8.00pm local time on Tuesday.

Photos by Cheah Ban Cheng, MTBC.

3rd August, Romeoville: Shalin Zulkifli kept Malaysia's Jalur Gemilang flying high at the US Women's Open 2008 Sunday improving one position up to eighth at Brunswick Zone XL Bowling Center as Esther Cheah shot the highest block by a Malaysian.

Shalin continued to inch closer to realize her dreams and creating a history of becoming the first Malaysian women to qualify for the PBA Women's Pro tour with another block of sizzling performance.

Bowling on Shark (44 feet long) oiling pattern Sunday morning, Shalin started off the block with lines of 189, 220, 204, 176 and 178. From the sixth games onwards, she reignited her dream to set the lanes ablaze and confidently stormed home with remarkable score lines of 233, 227 and 254 to aggregate 1683, averaging 211.21.

Shalin's combined total of 5069 perched herself to a comfortable eighth position in the overall standings after 24 games. Esther Cheah matured as the competition progressed to pick up her physical game momentum and emerged as the best Malaysian performer today.

Esther's lines of 186, 258, 181, 221, 212, 252, 214 and 233 resulted in 1737 total and a combined total of 4776 escalating her into 41st position. Zandra Aziela lost some ground with a subdued lukewarm performance when she managed the block with 1545. Her combined total of 4854 dropped her to 32nd place.

Wendy Chai made no headway in her mediocre performance as she shot 1478 total for a combined total of 4436 and in 103rd position and ruling out of a chance of making the Top 16 cut. Zandra Aziela and Esther Cheah are still within distance of making the cut provided they stay focus and start to fire on all cylinders in the final block of 8 games.

Menahwile, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of N. Richards Hill, Texas, stretched her lead of 24 pins to 109 pins after the third block on a total of 5255. Brenda Mack of Indianapolis and Kristal Wilson of Lawrence, Kansas finished second and third with 5146 and 5145.

The top 92 bowlers shall contest their fourth and final block of 8 games on Chameleon (40 feet) at 1.30pm Monday while the remaining bottom half bowlers will bowl earlier at 8.00am.

Photos by Cheah Ban Cheng, MTBC.

2nd August, Romeoville: It's another inspiring day for our Malaysian bowlers as Zandra Aziela hauled her way up the field to be in contention for a quarter-final place at US Women's Open Saturday afternoon.

Emulating the superb performance by Shalin Zulkifli on Friday, petite Zandra attracted the attention of the supportive crowd today with a commendable 238 opening game and geared up with another remarkable 246 high game.

Bowling on Scorpion oiling pattern (42 feet), Zandra followed it up with entertaining lines of 194, 204, 212, 213, 214 and 209 for a 1730 second block series.

Adding her first block score of 1579, Zandra's cummulative total of 3309 (16 games total) has rocketed her into 15th position out of 186 participants. Shalin Zulkifli gave a satisfactory performance to stay on course for her debut in the PBA Women's tour.

Shalin calmly registered the lines of 223, 216, 181, 179, 184, 207, 193 and 277 for a 1660 series to add to her first block score of 1726, Shalin's aggregate of 3386 earned herself a strong ninth position after 16 games.

Esther Cheah and Wendy Chai showed glimpses of their capabilities when both recorded an improved performance. Esther bowled a 1575 series to end with a 3039 total to finish a distant 80th placing. Wendy Chai reeled off 1528 today and amassed 2958 total for 101st position.

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, who was second in round 1, overtook Stefanie Nation with a superb 1742 to lead the field with 3502. Nation took second spot with 3478 ahead of Jen Petrick, who improved from 11th to take up third with 3437.

Our Malaysian bowlers will contest their third block of 8 games on Shark (44 feet) oiling pattern tomorrow (Sunday) at 8.00am.

Photos by Cheah Ban Cheng, MTBC.

4th August, Romeoville: Malaysia's Shalin Zulkifli walked tall among the 186 participants at the US Women's Open Friday by finishing fourth in the preliminary qualifying Round 1 at Brinzwick Zone XL bowling center.

Bowling in Squad A at 8.00am, Shalin posted an identical score of 212 in her first two games and accelerated her momentum with lines of 233, 188, 231, 247, 216 and 187 for her first block total of 1726, averaging 215.8.

Shalin was in line to claim the Squad's pole position as she stepped up to deliver her tenth frame in her last game. With a strike in the ninth frame, Shalin encountered an unlucky split with pins 5 and 8 standing.

As she attempted to spare the two pins, it chopped off pin 8 much to her disappointment and had to settle for fourth placing in her squad. Zandra Aziela suffered a hiccup with four splits in her opening game to end on 150.

She regained her composure to register the lines of 236, 171, 217, 229, 212 and 214 and leap-frogged into top 12th position in her penultimate game. However, another disastrous 150 game gave her a series at 1579 total which cost Zandra to slip down to 19th placing.

Esther Cheah and Wendy Chai were rather erractic in their physical games, resulting in a below par performance. Both bowlers will need to make a quantum leap in their remaining three blocks to vie for place in the quarter-finals.

Esther scored 1464 total to end up on 50th place while Wendy Chai posted 1430 total for a 61th place. Team USA, Stefanie Nation topped the round with 1821 followed by Carolyn Dorin-Ballard and Shanon Pluhowsky second and third with 1760 and 1730.

The second block of 8 games shall be bowled on Scorpion (42 feet) oiling pattern and our Malaysian bowlers would be in action at 1.30pm local time (2.30am Malaysian time).

Photos by Cheah Ban Cheng, MTBC.

31st July, Romeoville: Malaysia's bowling icon, Shalin Zulkifli made her presence felt at the competition venue of the US Women's Open 2008 at Romeoville, Illinois, USA on Thursday.

Prelude to the US Women's Open 2008, Shalin Zulkifli, Esther Cheah and Zandra Aziela participated in the Sweeper mini tournament which laid out the Cheetah (36 feet) oiling pattern assigned for the US Women's Open TV Finals.

In the three games event, Shalin started off modestly with 194 and 213 games. In her third game, bowling on the same pair of lanes with Zandra Aziela, Shalin blazed the lanes like rapid fire, reeling 7 consecutive strikes identical to Zandra's.

With sheer grit and determination, Shalin stormed home with another 5 consecutive strikes to achieve the magical 300 game; whilst Zandra encountered a split on eigth frame and registered a 258 total.

In the field of 55 bowlers from US Women's Open participants, Shalin won the event with 707 total; while Missy Belinder and Anne Marie Duggan of USA were tied in second place on 698 total.

Debutant, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia was fouth with 685 series; followed by Zandra Aziela in sixth place with 669 total (204, 207 and 258). Esther Cheah started promisingly with 239 game but succumbed with 164 and 167 for a 570 series earning only a 25th placing.

Our Malaysian women including Wendy Chai, took to the lanes at 6.00 pm for the official practice session, featuring four conditions: Viper (38 feet); Chameleon (40 feet); Scorpion (42 feet) and Shark (44 feet).

The first block of 8 games shall commence Saturday at 8.00 am (August 1) with Viper oiling condition.

Photos by Cheah Ban Cheng, MTBC.