National bowlers face last hurdle to make SEA Games squad

Filepic of national bowler Rafiq Ismail at the Malaysian National Championships in Sunway in March.

PETALING JAYA: This is it.
The Malaysian International Open, which begins on Friday, will be the final test for the national bowlers hoping to make the Singapore SEA Games squad in June.

And Muhd Nur Aiman Khairuddin will be on a double mission as the left-hander seeks to defend his title and impress the selectors to earn a place in the six-man team.

Aiman is warming up for the competition by representing the National Sports Council (NSC) at the UiTM’s Sukan Badan Berkanun (Statutory Bodies Sports) tournament in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, this week.

“We’ll only get back on May 3 and I’ll jump straight into the competition,” said Aiman, who won his first Malaysian Open in 2011.

The 27-year-old returned to the elite fold early this year after impressive wins at the Malaysian Open and KL Open last year.

In his first competition for the year – the Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships in Thailand – in January, Aiman teamed up with Rafiq Ismail and Timmy Tan to bag bronze in the trios and with Johnathan Chan, Ahmad Muaz Fishol and Jonathan Ding to win silver in the team event.

He also finished second to Rafiq in the men’s Open of the Thailand International Open in Bangkok two weeks ago.

“I’ve had some good performances this year. I think I did well at the Asian meet in January. I didn’t make it past round one of the finals at the Brunswick Euro Challenge and the National Championships in March but I was second behind Rafiq at the Thailand Open two weeks ago. So, a win here will definitely be good ahead of the selection,” said Aiman.

Aiman made his SEA Games debut in Indonesia in 2011, winning a silver in the men’s trios with Syafiq Ridhwan and Aaron Kong and a gold in the team of five with Adrian Ang, Alex Liew and Zulmazran Zulkifli.


 by Ashreena Pillai - The Star