THE hard work paid off for Ahmad Azriq Izam as he nailed his biggest-ever win by taking the boys’ Open title at the International Junior All-Stars Bowling Championships.
The 16-year-old kept his cool as he upstaged top seed Syazirol Shamsuddin in the stepladder finals in Bandar Sunway yesterday.
Azriq was simply on fire as he blitzed Syazirol 226-189 in the first game before pulling off a resounding 232-178 score in the second to seal the deal.
In the first match of the stepladder finals, Azriq, who finished third in the masters with a 2,185 total, posted 244 compared to Matthew Ong’s 242 and Callum Borck’s 204 to earn a crack at the title.
“I feel relieved, proud, happy and just really grateful to get this win. It feels nice to be rewarded after putting in all the hard work,” said Azriq, who also won the Under-15 and Graded events in the 2017 edition.
“I was feeling some pressure in the stepladder finals but it faded away when I kept bowling well.
“In the final, I just focused on making good shots. I wasn’t concerned about my opponent’s performance.
“This is my biggest win. I’ve been bowling for so many years, but I’ve never won an open title before, so this is a first for me.
“Hopefully, I’ll keep this form going and win more open titles.
Azriq pocketed a cool RM25,000 for his efforts while Syazirol received RM15,000.
There was, however, no double joy as national elite bowler Nur Syazwani Sahar fell short in her efforts to take the girls’ Open title.
Syazwani, who finished third with a total of 2,188 pinfalls in the masters, finished third after going fown 204-188 to South Korea’s Choi Hyeon-ji in the first match of the stepladder finals.
Top seed Yoo Da-yeong of Korea won the event.