KUALA LUMPUR: National bowler Ahmad Muaz Fishol stayed on course to defend his men's Open crown at the Malaysian Open after successfully negotiating through the first round of the masters.
Muaz, 30, made the top-16 cut by finishing 10th in the tightly-contested eight-game roll-off, won by compatriot Hafiz Zainuddin at the Sunway Mega Lanes on Friday.
Muaz posted lines of 226-214-192-204-207-202-202-223 for a 1,670 total to advance to the second round.
Hafiz sounded an early warning by topping the 33-man standings with an impressive 1,839 total, followed by former international Kang Bo Long (1,806) and Singapore's Mike Ong (1,720).
Another eight bowlers from the local and overseas pool, including 2016 winner Rafiq Ismail and Thai ace Yannaphon Larpapharat, will join the fray in Saturday's second round.
All 24 bowlers will roll another eight games from scratch, with the top three finishers advancing to the stepladder finals.Muaz was relieved to have made the first cut.
"It was a tough day and was not my best performance but glad that I got the job done. As much as I hoped to finish better, finishing in the top 16 was all that mattered," said Muaz.
"I will definitely need to raise my game and minimise mistakes to qualify for the stepladder finals.
"I have never defended a title before, so I'm quite motivated for tomorrow."
It has been three years since Muaz last hoisted the trophy in 2019.
The tournament was not held in 2020, 2021 (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) and 2022 (due to the general election).
The women's open saw Singapore's Shayna Ng rule the early proceedings after chalking up a 1,789 total to finish just 15 pins ahead of Malaysia's Natasha Roslan (1,774).
Sarawak state bowler Lavinia Kho proved she was no pushover by claiming the third spot with 1,774 pinfalls.
Defending champion Charlene Lim of Singapore made the cut by finishing fifth on a 1,703 total.
Sin Li Jane, the top local pool qualifier, will join in the race as she seeks a third title after victories in 2014 and 2016.
The men's and women's Open champions will walk away with RM45,000 and RM25,000, respectively.