PERAK TARGET ONE GOLD IN LAWN BOWLS AT SUKMA 2024

By Razif Rosli

IPOH, July 21 (Bernama) -- Perak lawn bowls athlete Mohamad Ali Imran, who will be making his final appearance at the Malaysia Games (SUKMA) 2024, is determined to win a gold medal before bidding goodbye to the biennial Games.

Mohamad Ali, 20, who contributed gold in the triples event previously, hopes to defend the gold he won in the 2022 edition in Kuala Lumpur in his third and final SUKMA appearance.

Having been involved in lawn bowls since 2018, he is ready to take on the challenging task if given the opportunity to compete in more than one event, thereby increasing his chances of being selected for the national team in the future.

"Of course, I need to defend the SUKMA victory. Since we have worked hard from the beginning, we will make the best use of it to help Perak achieve success in Sarawak

"This SUKMA will be my last, and if given the chance to compete in three events, I will give my full commitment to win the gold medals. It will also be the best tonic for me to possibly don the national team jersey," he told Bernama.

In SUKMA 2022, the Perak lawn bowls squad won two gold and two silver medals out of nine events contested, comprising four men's events, four women's events, and one mixed category.

Meanwhile, head coach Sazeli Sani said the Perak lawn bowls squad, represented by 80 percent new faces, will not disappoint the state contingent despite the lower target set this time compared to the previous edition.

He said past performance records also proved that lawn bowls did not return empty-handed but consistently contributed two gold and two silver medals.

"This time we only have one athlete who has previously competed in SUKMA, but that doesn't mean our athletes are weak. I am confident our squad will meet the target and bring home medals.

"If our athletes do not make mistakes during the competition, I believe they can give us a bonus (gold)," he said.

The men's team includes Mohamad Ali Imran, Muhammad Nur Ilham Muhamad Nazri, Muhammad Danish Nasrullah Hasmrol Shah, Mohamed Naiim Syahmi Mohamed Azian, Muhammad Hakim Ali Hiari, and Firman Hassanei Shariati Abdul Halim.

The women's team consists of Siti Noor Aisyah Abdul Aziz, Nur Izzati Rosli, Anis Batrisyia Faisal, Adalia Dania Ahmad Fazila, Alysha Aqilah Azmir, and Arifah Haziqah Ahmad Hasmadi.

-- BERNAMA