Gillian and Syazwani just miss out on a silver debut

A MERE seven pins – that was how close Gillian Lim and Nur Syazwani Sahar were to winning silver in the women’s doubles event at the Royal City Bowling Alley.

The debutants, however, had to settle for bronze. Still, it was a satisfying achievement that could spur them to greater heights in the future.

Singapore’s duo of New Hui Fen and Cherie Tan were unstoppable as they rolled 2,767 pins, 296 ahead of silver medallist from Indonesia, Sharon Limansantoso and Tannya Roumimper.

Gillian and Syazwani took down 2,471 pins to win the bronze.

Despite the near miss, Gillian said she was happy with how she and Syazwani had performed against the other two pairs who were far more experienced than them.

“I am happy with the outcome despite losing by just seven pins to Indonesia. They are very experienced, and we did out best. But it definitely was a very different and high-pressure moment.

“We are happy we maintained our composure to deliver bowling’s first medal.”

Her focus now will be on the two-day team event, which starts today.

“We are here to win a medal in a team event and communication will be the key. We have great chemistry, and I believe we can do well. We are all fired up for it.” Syazwani, on the other hand, said the struggle towards the end was why they could not hit the silver. “We struggled with getting strikes, and we feel sad that we only lost by seven pins. But we are grateful for the bronze medal. We fought until the last frame.

“We hope we can maintain the momentum and are hoping for a podium finish in the team event so everyone can go home with medals.

“It will be a marathon, but we are trained for that,” she said.

Malaysia did not have the best of outings in the men’s doubles, with Shahrukh Amin Zulkifli and Mohd Hafiz Zainuddin finishing eighth. .

They knocked down 2,470 pins. Nevern Netaneel and Mohd Syazirol Shamsudin managed 2,455 to finish 10th.