28th December, K.Lumpur: Malaysian young guns stole the limelight at the concluding 9th MILO World Junior All Stars Bowling Championship with Adrian Ang Hsien Loong successfully defending the Boy's title while Sin Li Jane clinched her first international crown in the Girl's division.

Despite successfully defending the Boy's title, Adrian Ang was forced into a sudden-death decider by challenger, Aaron Kong after Adrian lost the first match, 180-244. But the 20-year-old member of the national elite squad bounched back with a convincing 257-175 victory over Aaron in the second game.

Ang, who topped the 10-game finals earlier by a comfortable margin of 149 pins to advance into the stepladder finals as topseed.

"I was a bit too anxious to get the game over with in one game and I made some bad shots," said the Adrian, who have won the Junior All-Stars title for the third time. "In the second game, I just made sure I hit the pocket and hope that all ten pins will fall.

The champion walked away with a whopping top rpize of RM30,000 for his effort. Aaron, who was seeded fourth, took home RM12,000. The runnerup reached the finals after he dispatched, second seed and national youth, Kang Bo Long and Singapore's Mark Wong, 248-202-192 in the first stepladder match.

Meanwhile, IV Commonwealth Tenpin Bowling Championship two gold medalist, Sin Li Jane stole the limelight when she defeated her more illustrious team-mate, Esther Cheah, 222-183 to win her first international crown.

Jane had also topped the earlier finals with 2176, 40 pins ahead of Esther in second. Esther edged third-seed, Geraline Ng of Singapore and fourth-seed, Raniia Nugroho of Indonesia, 256-244-215 in a closely fought first stepladder encounter to set up an all-Malaysia finals.

"I knew Esther is much stronger than me but I wasn't feeling nervous at all," said the 16-year-old champion. "In fact I didn't even notice that

she missed a single pin. I just kept my concentration throughout the match.

Asked what her goals was after her victory, Jane replied that she will be very happy to continue to get opportunities to compete in more international tournaments. And if I'm selected for next year's Asian Youth, I'll be very happy.

Jane walked away with RM17,000 for winning the Girl's Open Masters title while Esther settled for RM8,000. Second and third runners-up, Geraldine Ng and Raniia Nugroho won RM4,000 and RM1,500 respectively.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

27th December, K.Lumpur: The Boy's and Girl's Graded Masters titles of the 9th MILO World Junior All-Stars contested this morning, went to Malaysia's Muhd Aizudeen Mustaqim and Indonesia's Jessica Florencia.

Muhd Aizudeen Mustaqim, who missed the podium with a fourth place finish in the Boy's Under-15 Masters finals yesterday, surprised many of his more experienced seniors by capturing the Boy's Graded title with a total of 2163.

The 13-year-old Form 1 student from SMK Section 9 in Petaling Jaya got off the block with a superb 226 but trailed Ahmad Aidil of Kuala Lumpur by 29 pins. Despite following it up with 178, 219, 202 and 176 in his first five games, Aizudeen was only inside the top 10 of 32 finalists.

As Perak's Muhd Zakwan and Singapore's Nicholas Lim were tussling for the lead, Aizudeen fired 221 and 288 in his next two games to take a

17 pin lead over Nicholas at the seventh game. The Selangor youth ended the last two games stronger with 238 and 224 to clinch his first major title.

"When I hit the high game of 288 in the seventh game, I knew if I can keep my concentration and momentum, I'd have a chance of winning," said Muhd Aizudeen, who won the Piala Shalin 2007 Under-12 and 2008 Under-15 titles. "I'm really glad to win today after missing in yesterday's finals."

Nicholas Lim, who shot the tournament's first perfect game, settled for second with 2134 while Singapore's Sports School's Howard Saw finished third with 2063. Perak's Shin Chern Yew and Singapore's Loke Chor rounded up the top 5.

Meanwhile, Jessica Florencia of Medan Mandiri, Indonesia took a convincing victory in the Girl's Graded division with a total of 2039. Jessica led from the second game onwards stretching her lead from 2 pins to 102 pins at the end of the 10-game finals.

Terengganu's Nur Hidayah Adam took second spot with a total of 1937 followed by KL's Nur Diana Husin in third with 1913. Nur Amira Irdeena from Johor and first-game leader, Celine Mok of Singapore completed the top 5 with 1889 and 1862.

Muhd Aizudeen Mustaqim won for himself a whopping RM10,000 cash voucher for his effort as Nicholas Lim and Howard Saw took home RM4,000 and RM2,000 respectively. Jessica won RM4,000 with Nur Hidayah and Nur Diana settling for RM2,000 and RM1,000.

The qualifying for the Open division will end late tonight where the top 40 boys and top 30 girls will contest the finals on Sunday, December 28 at the end of which the top 4 will advance to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

26th December, K.Lumpur: Jaya Ancol Bowling's youth, Raniia Nugroho set the lanes at Sunway Mega Lanes on fire as she reeled off 717 to take over the lead of the Girl's Open Masters overseas qualifying pool of the 9th MILO World Junior All-Stars.

Raniia, who came with fellow teammates, Shalimah Zalsha, Dennis Renova, David Candra, Marco Putera and Tannya Roumimper from Bandung, already had nine previous attempts but never got close to the qualifying score needed to make the finals.

The 18-year-old then took her chance after this morning's Under-15 Masters finals and suddenly found the lane conditions suitable. She started off with a cracking 266 followed it up with 243 and her pace dropped off a bit to end her tenth attempt with 217 for an incredible 717 total.

"I'm not sure what happened but the lane condition was just ideal and I didn't leave a lot of pin 10s like in my previous MQs," said the

delighted Raniia. "I'll take a rest now for the finals. I was very tired after so many MQs the past few days.

This year's Malaysian Open champion and two-time Singapore national champion, Jazreel Tan is second with 707 behind Raniia with New Hui Fen of Singapore Sports Schools third with 704. Earlier, New also posted the tournament's fourth perfect game during her singles which she scored 701.

In the Boy's division, 21-year-old Bader Al-Shaikh of Saudi Arabia, who is attached to a Brisbane University in Australia and scoring 816, is the only bowler to hit surpass the 800-mark for the three-game qualifying round.

The Saudi led the table with Hong Kong's Leo Tse tieing second with Singapore SPorts School's Justin Lim Chun Liang on 757 followed by Malaysian national youth, Mohd Zaim Zulfadhle third with 737 and leading the local pool. National youth, Kang Bo Long is second with 723.

Singapore's Nicholas Lim Jun Rong shot the first perfect 300 on the second day of the tournament with Penang's Adrian Charles Dragon

knocking down the second. Chinese Taipei's Cheng Hsing-Chao shot the third with New Hui Fen the fourth.

Qualifying will end on tomorrow, December 27 while the Graded division will end today. The Open Masters finals will be staged on Sunday, December 28 with TV coverage from Astro Supersport.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

26th December, K.Lumpur: Hong Kong's new wonder boy, Michael Mak does it again by capturing his second international youth title this year with a victory in the Youth Boy's Under-15 Masters finals of the 9th MILO World Junior All-Stars on Boxing Day.

Michael Mak didn't have the best of start but kept pace with the leaders during the first half of the 8-game Masters finals. Although Mak had led in the second and third games, the lead changed hands several times.

But by the sixth game, Mak picked up his pace to knock down 245, 203 and ending with 227 to take a comfortable victory with 1720, averaging an incredible 215 for a 14-year-old. Tay Kun Long of Singapore Sports School settled for second with 1622, 98 pins adrift.

"I started fairly well in the first three games but came to a pair where I just couldn't score," said the 14-year-old Mak, who won this year's PBAP Classic youth title in Manila. "I thought I had lost it but when I

shot 245 and 203 in the sixth and seventh games, I knew the title was mine.

Pace-setter, Keith Saw, also of Singapore Sports School, took third sport with 1598 while Muhamad Ikmal Ismail of Kuala Lumpur, who led at the halfway mark managed only a fifth place finish behind Selangor's Muhd Aizudeen Mustakim in fourth.

Meanwhile, Singapore youths swept the top three podium places in the Girl's Under-15 Masters finals with Celine Mok clinching the title with 1600. Mok, who was in mid field in the early stages, finished strongly to snatch victory by 9 pins.

Singapore Sports School's Ilma Noor Jannah, who led after the fourth and fifth games, settled for second with 1591 ahead of team-mate, Tan Yan Ling in third with 1506. Last year's champion, Georgya Britton and Kwa Ai Teng rounded up the top 5.

"I didn't know I had taken the lead but after my coach, Billy (Choo) had told me, I was a bit anxious," said the CHIJ Toa Payoh Sec 3 student, whose only title so far was winning the Novice Upper secondary Masters title since taking up bowling 5 years ago.

The winners were awarded with trophies, a Brunswick bowling ball and bag each. Qualifying will continue for the next two days with the Graded Masters finals on Saturday and the Open Masters finals on Sunday, December 28.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

25th December, K.Lumpur: Doha Asian Games Doubles gold medalist, Bader Al-Shaikh of Saudi Arabia stormed into the lead of the Boy's Open Masters qualifying leaderboard to become the first bowler to surpass the 800-mark.

Bader Al-Shaikh, who created hsitory by becoming one of the first Saudi to win a gold medal in tenpin bowling at the Asian Games with his brother, Hassan, set the lanes at Sunway Mega Lanes with a three-game effort of 816.

The Saudi opened with a scintilating 269 and followed it up with another 279 scorcher to give himself 148 pins over. Needing only a final game of 200 to take the lead, Bader ended with another sizzling 268 to become the first bowler to surpass the 800-mark.

"I didn't eat anything special before the qualifying round. I just had a good rest and slept almost the whole day," said the 21-year-old who is studying finance at a Brisbane university in Australia.

Bader's 816 dislodged overnight leader and Hong Kong's new wonder boy, Michael Mak into second with 711 and Singapore's Gregory Gan third with 707 in the overseas pool.

Malaysian national youth, Mohammed Zaim Zulfadhlie also took over the lead in the local pool with a superb effort of 737 and second overall. Singapore Open Youth Boys champion, Kang Bo Long, who led briefly with 723, dropped to second.

Meanwhile in the Girl's Open division, this year's Malaysian Open champion and two-time national champion, Jazreel Tan led Singapore to a top 3 finishers with 707 followed by overnight leader, Daphne Tan and New Hui Fen second and third on 705 and 704 respectively.

Malaysian national youth, Fatin Syazliana's 738 looked firm and untoppable. Two-time World Champion, Esther Cheah moved up to second with a superb 712. Esther, who is on a holiday break from her studies in the United States will hope to cap off a victory before going back to resume her studies.

Asean University Games Masters gold medalist, Zatil Iman dropped to third with 702 while two-time champion, Siti Safiyah improved to 697 for fourth and vying for her third victory.

Qualifying will end on Saturday December 27 while the Graded division will end tomorrow. The Under-15 category will end this evening. The Open Masters finals will be staged on December 28 with TV coverage from Astro Supersport.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

24th December, K.Lumpur: Hong Kong new wonder boy, Michael Mak stake his claim in the Boy's Open Masters title of the 9th MILO World All-Stars to lead the overseas qualifying table on Christmas Eve.

Michael Mak, who is only 14, took center stage when he won the PBAP International Classic Youth title in Manila in September this year. He went on to finish a creditable third in the Open division at the same championship.

In his earlier attempt in the Boy's Under-15 category, the Hong Kong youngster fired 257, 290 and 251 to post the highest three-game qualifying scoreline of 778 to lead the qualifying table.

He then went on to post 257, 242 and 212 to record 711 to top the Boy's Open overseas qualifying table. However, his second effort put him joint fourth overall behind new leader, Kang Bo Long of Malaysia, who lead with 723.

Malaysian national backup squad member, Zaid Izlan and newly-crowned Penang Pesta Youth Open champion, Aris Ardila Santosh took second and third spot with 715 and 712. Mohammed Amirrul Afif tied fourth with Michael Mak.

Meanwhile, Malaysian national youth, Fatin Syazliana maintained her lead in the Girl's Open division with 738 posted two days ago. Asean University Games Masters gold medalist, Zatil Iman improved her earlier score fo 660 to 702 to take up second spot followed by Yap Wi Yin third with 695.

Singapore's Daphne Tan topped the overseas pool with 705 ahead of Asean University Games three gold medalist and elder sister, Cherie Tan in second with 652. World Youth Silver medalist, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia third with 624.

With the bulk of the overseas bowlers including Japan, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei arriving today, the scores will surely be getting higher as the scramble for places in the Masters finals heat up.

Qualifying continues through to December 27. The first of the Masters finals which will be held tomorrow (December 25) is the Under-12 division. The Under-15 division finals will be held on December 26 and the Graded division December 27.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

23rd December, K.Lumpur: National youth, Fatin Syazliana Bte Nasution took over the lead in the Girl's Open Masters qualifying table in the 9th MILO World Junior All-Stars as former champion, Aaron Kong moved into joint second in the Boy's division.

Fatin, who laid off for 8 months recovering from a knee surgery, did well to finish third in the Youth Girl's Open masters finals last week in the Penang Pesta International Open. The 18-year-old scorched the lanes with lines of 265, 227 and 246 for a total of 723 to take over the lead in the qualifying leaderboard.

Pyramid Youth's Yap Wi Yin, who led briefly with 695, dropped to second ahead of two-time Junior All-Stars champion and overnight leader, Siti Safiyah Amirah and Asean University Games Masters gold medalist, Zatil Iman tieing in third with 660.

SingaporeBowling's Daphne Tan topped the overseas pool with a superb 705 dislodging her elder sister, Cherie Tan in to second spot with 652.

Commonwealth Championship gold medalist, Jo Allsebrook of England took sixth spot with 580 first attempt and shooting the high game of 268.

Meanwhile, 2004 Junior All-Stars champion and member of the national elite squad, Aaron Kong moved into joint third with Yusuf Abdul Roaf after a superb 706. Kong's win in 2004 was his first international success and he will be aiming to end his drought with a victory.

National youth, Syimir Abdul Razak took over the lead with 708 pushing Sarawak's Bong Kihow into second spot on 707 while Asean University Games Singles gold medalist and two-time PBAP Classic champion, Syafiq Ridhwan finished third with 703.

Leo Tse of Hong Kong almost scored the second perfect game of the championship with 298. But his three-game effort of 648 put him only

sixth in the overseas pool. Singapore's Nicolas Lim shot the first perfect 300 two days ago.

Australia's Keryn Delany, Sam Cooley and Wade Selwood, who were the first overseas participants to arrive Malaysia for the championship, occupied the top three spots in the overseas table with 684, 683 and 672.

The majority of the overseas world-class youths will be arriving today and will take to the lanes later today. DBU Junior Cup champion, Tina Hulsch of Germany and Ghislaine van der Tol of the Netherlands have bowled their singles before making their qualifying rounds.

Reigning AMF World Cup champion, Jasmine Yeong-Nathan of Singapore will also be trying out the lanes later today. SingaporeBowling's national youths have also arrive and will ultimately push the qualifying scores higher.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

22nd December, K.Lumpur: Two-time champion and national elite squad member, Siti Safiyah Amirah is gunning to become the first Malaysian to win the Girl's Open Masters crown of the 9th MILO International Junior All-Stars underway at Sunway Mega Lanes.

Siti Safiyah, who just turned 18 last month, seem to have been in the bowling scene for a long long time. This is because she has countless titles to her name. Siti first raised many eyebrows when she won her first Junior All-Stars title in 2004 when she was only 14.

And many thought it was just a fluke when she managed to outshine many more experience Malaysians and international juniors for the title. But the following year, Siti Safiyah claimed her first major international title winning the prestigious 2005 Malaysian International Open.

She also created history by becoming the first Malaysian to win the title at the age of 14. Malaysia's bowling idol, Shalin Zulkifli was crowned national champion when she was 14.

Siti has since been promoted to the national elite squad after being in the backup squad for two years. In 2006, she regained the Junior All-Stars title and at the same time, won her back-to-back title after she clinched the 2006 Penang Pesta International Open a week later.

A victory in the on-going championship will make the first Malaysian to have won this prestigious crown for the third time. This victory would also put her in the frmae for a spot in this year's World Women's Championship in Las Vegas, USA in July.

Siti posted an impressive 660 to share the lead of the Girl's Open division. She had lines of 216, 216 and 228 in her three-game qualifying round yesterday. Asean University Games Masters gold medalist, Zatil Iman tied top spot with Siti on 660.

National Elite squad member, Zandra Aziela finished third with 656 ahead of backup squad member, Nur Syakira Yeoh and Negeri Sembilan's Hurul Ainul second and third with 633 and 596 respectively.

Asean University Games four gold medalist and this year's Singapore International Open champion, Cherie Tan of Singapore lead the overseas table with 652 followed by Australia's Kara Trivicio and Singapore's Kritel Oh third.

Meanwhile, Sarawak's Bong Kihow lead the Boy's Open division with a score of 707. Wilayah Persekutuan's Yusuf Abdul Roaf, who became the second bowler to score past the 700-mark, shot 706 to finish second to Bong in the table.

Asean University Games Singles gold medalist and two-time PBAP Classic champion, Syafiq Ridhwan took third spot with 703. Muhd Saman Mohd Shuib of Pahang and natoional youth, Syimir Abdul Razak rounded up the top 5.

Qualifying continues through to December 27. The Youth Under-12 finals will be held on December 25, the Youth Under-15 on December 26 and the Youth Graded finals December 27. The finals of the Open division will be on December 28.

Photos by Terence Yaw.