KUALA LUMPUR: Bowler Natasha Roslan is shaping up nicely ahead of the National Championships next week after capping off a sizzling campaign in the Interstate Championships with three gold medals.
Natasha, the reigning world champion, powered Selangor to a successful title defence in the women's team event at Sunway Mega Lanes and was later confirmed as the winner of the All-Events category today.
Bowling alongside Shalin Zulkifli, Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman and Adania Redzwan, the quartet dominated the field by posting a 4,979 total.
They finished ahead of Kuala Lumpur's Nur Syazwani Sahar, Nur Amira Abdul Rahim, Radin Nur Najwa and Nora Lyana Nastasia Norkamal, who chalked up 4,841 pinfalls.
Sarawak, spearheaded by their doubles gold medalists Gillian Lim and Nur Aina Kamalia Abdul Ayub, settled for bronze with a combined effort of 4,793.
The squad also included Sukma star Nur Hazirah Ramli and last year's Malaysia Open champion Lavinia Kho.
The day belonged to Natasha, who stood out with her best-ever campaign in the Interstate Championships, having also claimed the singles gold on Monday.
She narrowly missed her second gold in the doubles, coming in second with Siti Safiyah.
Natasha hopes to ride this momentum to end a long wait for her third national crown.
"This is definitely my best performance in the Interstate Championships so far, with three golds and one silver. I'm very happy to see my hard work paying off," said Natasha, the reigning National Sportswoman of the Year.
"I'm physically and mentally prepared for the national meet now. Hopefully, I can maintain this momentum into next week.
"It's been seven years since my back-to-back triumphs in 2016 and 2017. I came close in 2019 with a runner-up finish."
By topping the All-Events leaderboard, Natasha has secured an automatic qualification for the National Championships.
In other team events earlier today, Sarawak and Sabah won the boys' and girls' categories, respectively.