Bowling: Perak's Long And Winding Road To Men’s Doubles Glory 

KUCHING, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- “Hard work breeds success” aptly describes the gold medal success of Perak bowlers Mohamad Faris Zainal Abidin-Syed Adrees Darwiz Syed Zunizam at the 2024 Malaysia Games (SUKMA) in men’s doubles yesterday.

The 20-year-old Syed Adrees Darwiz, who was in tears at the medal presentation ceremony, is relieved that his drive and determination to succeed in the sport, which he first took it up at the age of 10, has finally paid off at the 21st edition of the biennial Games here.

“Mohamad Faris and I are making our SUKMA debut. So, we are definitely touched by this victory. This medal is very meaningful as it proves that I made the right move in taking up bowling.

“(For) 10 years I’ve been training with team Perak, right from the backup squad, and I never got the chance to compete in SUKMA until now. So, the coach has helped us a lot along the way,” he told reporters at Megalanes Sarawak last night.

Meanwhile, former national bowler Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi, now the Perak coach, said she always reminded her charges not to feel “small” although none of them are in the national team.

This is because Syaidatul, who commutes from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh, Perak from Friday to Monday, feels that anyone who has a “never-say-die spirit” is capable of pulling off a surprise.

“I tell them that there is no such thing as a first-timer in SUKMA because everything is based on the current situation and our current form. So, for them to have won it, I’d say it was simply their day although they did struggle to achieve it.

“We were not the favourites but the two of them were constantly communicating, had very high fighting spirit and clever enough to make quick lane adjustments. That is actually the most difficult thing for a bowler to do,” she said.

For the record, this is the Perak men’s team’s first-ever gold medal since the 2006 SUKMA in Kedah. The Perak men last won a SUKMA medal in 2014 when they clinched silver also in men’s doubles.

Mohamad Faris-Syed Adrees Darwiz downed 2,479 pins to clinch gold - 20 pins more than silver medallists Darryl Ariel Punzalan Soo-Muhammad Noor Hidayat Muhamad Nazri (2,459 pinfalls) of Melaka.

Penang’s Mohammad Zuhair Zailani-Muhammad Hafiz Darwisy Azhlan (2,389 pinfalls) took bronze.

-- BERNAMA