Milo Junior All star 2007 december

NST Online » Sport

2007/12/21

Bowling: Wonderboy Syafiq sets lanes on fire

By : Ajitpal Singh

Muhd Syafiq Sajeli (centre) won the Boys' Under-12 Masters category while Ariss Alexander (right) came in second and Jason Lim third.

Girl's U12 winners, Victoria Chin, Ainaa Khairina and Nadia Pramanik

SARAWAK wonderboy Muhd Syafiq Sajeli captured his third title of the year when he emerged champion in the Boys' Under-12 Masters category with ease in the Milo International Junior All-Stars Championships at the Pyramid Megalanes in Bandar Sunway yesterday.

Muhd Syafiq, a Standard Six student with Menanga Ong Tiang Swee Primanry School in Kuching, posted high games of 233, 209, 201, 190, 249, 176 for a grand total of 1,261 pinfalls to win by a massive 173 pins. He also won the Sarawak and Sabah SportExcel Under-12 tournaments earlier this year.

Ariss Alexander, also from Sarawak, finished second with a 1,088 total followed by Singapore's Jason Lim (1,087).

Muhd Syafiq, comes from a family of bowlers as his parents Sajeli Kifli and Rakiah Ali bowl socially while elder brother Mohd Sazuan is a member of the Under-15 Sarawak team.

Despite taking up the sport just three years ago, Muhd SYafiq, 12, is a member of the Under-18 Sukan Teras programme.
He could win his second title when he takes to the lanes in the Under-15 Masters today. Muhd Syafiq is the top qualifier of the event with 710 pinfalls.

Muhd Syafiq, who wants to become world champion one day, said: "I had several near misses in previous Under-15 tournaments and hope to to win it here." In the Girls' Under-12 event, Ainaa Khairina of Perak emerged champion with a 1,010 total followed by Indonesia's Nadia Pramanik (977) and Selangor's Victoria Chin (965).

Meanwhile, Jonathan Lim continues to lead the Boys' Open qualifiers with a 771 total followed by Singapore's Gregory Gan (764), Syafiq Ridhwan (762), Zaid Izlan (748) and South Korea's Ng Seong Wan (747).

Singapore's Geraldine Ng is the new leader of the Girls' Open qualifiers with a 732 total followed by overnight leader Zandra Aziela (716), Singapore's Cherie Tan (717), South Korea's Kwan Hye Mi (712) and Nor Hanizah Idris (706).