27th October, Shah Alam: Oh Gi Tae of Seong Nam and Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani of Shah Alam A won the Men and Women Singles gold medals at the 36th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship while Wan Rohadi Wan Hassan of Kuala Lumpur and Shahlawati Mat Yusof claimed the Senior Men and Senior Women Singles titles.

Fourth-seed, Oh narrowly defeated second-seed, Muhd Nur Aiman of Petaling Jaya, 232-227 in the title match to clinch the gold medal. The champion has earlier ousted top-seed, Stanley Lau of New Territories, 236-193 in the first semi-final match to advance to the title round.

Nur Aiman edged fellow compatriot, Muhammad Azizi Naim Jabar of Shah Alam A, with a strike to Azizi's eight pins in a one-ball roll-off to break the tie at 185 a piece in the other semi. Luck ran out for the Malaysian after having to settle for the silver medal. Lau and Muhammad Azizi were awarded a bronze medal each after their loss in the semi-finals.

Lau remained unbeaten after the second Men Singles squad completed their preliminaries. Muhammad Azizi topped Squad B with an identical score with Lau on 927. Lau won a one-ball roll-off to advance to the medal rounds as top seed facing the champion, Oh.

Meanwhile, last Asian Intercity Singles and Masters gold medalist, Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani successfully defended her title after beating challenger and fourth-seed, Nurul Ayunni Junaidi of Shah Alam B, 174-144 in the Women title match.

Zatil trashed third-seed, Nur Irdina Batrisya Bt Mat Aris of Kuala Lumpur, 216-155 to advance to the title match. Nurul Ayunni ousted top-seed, Maria Lourdes Arles of Paranaque, 173-167 in the other semi to face her compatriot in the final.

The champion had earlier topped Squad B Singles preliminaries with 829 but fell short by 29 pins to overhaul Squad A leader and top-seed, Arles. Nur Irdina, who finished second last night, advanced as third-seed while the fourth and final medal rounds spot went to Nurul Ayunni with 824.

The Senior Men Singles gold medal went to top-seed, Wan Rohadi B Wan Hassan of Kuala Lumpur after defeating challenger, Mahali Hj Abd Rahman of Bandar Seri Begawan, 187-170 in the final. The champion dispatched fourth-seed, Zaba Othman, 189-164 to make the finals.

Top-seed, Shahlawati Mat Yusof gave host, Shah Alam A their second gold medal of the championships after she edged Salwa Binti Buang of Kuala Lumpur, 175-165 in the final. The champion made the final with victory over fourth-seed, Hjh Sab Hj Jaya of Belait, 176-153 in the semi-finals.

Salwa clinched a spot in the final with a narrow victory over second-seed, Yang Young-Ja of Jeju, 187-185 in the other semi-finals. En. Mohd Azhar Bin Mohd Sharif, Pengarah Jabatan Korporat & Perhubungan Awam was on hand to present the medals to the winners during the Singles Medal Ceremony.

He was assisted by FIrst Vice President of AIBC, Mr Richard Lai and Ms Michelle Wong, Executive Board Member of AIBC. Competition will shift to the Doubles event starting with the Senior Women and Senior Men Doubles Squad A later this afternoon.

Squad B will contest their 4-game Doubles preliminaries tomorrow morning at 9.00am. The Women and Men Doubles will be staged in the afternoon, divided into two squads.