8th March, Kuching: Squad A leader, Team Sunway Megalanes won their first title at the Sarawak Hornbill Team Cup 2024 with victory in the Team of 4 long oil pattern ahead Squad B leader, Team NSTBA 1 Mixed in second and Team of 4 short oil champion, DKI A, Indonesia in third.

Sunway Megalanes finally tasted success after finishing second in the Trios long oil and third in the Team of 4 short oil. Johnathan Chan, Matthew Ong, Cheah Yung Ren and Muhammad Hariz Adlan started the block with a cracking 894 in Squad A to lead Aman Bowl by 23 pins.

Although the leader managed only 771 in their second game, Aman Bowl's Mohd Fahmi Yusari, Syed Amsyar Ghazi, Mohd Aiman Faris and Muhammad Zharfan stumbled to a 695 to slip behind Wilayah Persekutuan's Wipers A taking up second spot, 62 pins adrift.

Team Sunway Megalanes recovered slightly with a btter third game of 806 as Aman Bowl bounced back with 835 to regain second position. Team Hero Bowling of Bong Kihow, Daniel Tan, Desmond Law and Chong Jun Foo began to make strides moving into third.

The pace-setter ended strongly with 842 to top the squad with 3313. Aman Bowl finished second with 3219 while Muhammad Zulkifli, Nur'Fadhlin Arisya, Muhammad Azizi Naim and Noor Afizal Azizan of MBSA (Shah Alam) snatched third position with 3189.

In the second squad, Izz Naqiuddin Putera, Piretisha A/P Ravichandran, Carl Zharfan Aisy and Muhammad Aimeer Shah of NSTBA Mixed 1 led from start to finish to top the squad with 3300. The Negeri Sembilan quartet rolled 892, 810 and 846 and needing only 765 or more to topple Team Sunway Megalanes for the title.

But they ended disappointingly with 754 and fell short by just 10 pins to settle for second overall with the two squads' score combined. Winner of 3 titles already under their belt, Team DKI A of Indonesia, made a late charge to pip Team Dotmod for third position with 3273.

Team Dotmod missed the podium to end up in fourth with 3252 while Team DKI B, Indonesia rounded out the top 5 with 3248. The top 36 teams based on their total pinfalls from the six different events made the cut for the Baker 4 Dual Battle event, which will be contested by each team in Bakers Format over six games. The top 3 will be declared the winners of the final event.