Malaysia’s lawn bowlers picked up silver and bronze medals at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games but the Southeast Asian nation’s continued improvements on the rink point towards an even better return at Glasgow 2026.
After Sunday’s play, lead Aleena Ahmad Nawawi and skip Syafiqa Abdul Rahman (pictured) topped Section D of the Women’s Pairs with four wins out of four, while Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple has an identical record in the Men’s Singles Section D.
With world No.1 Emma Firyana Saroji still to come in the Women’s Singles during the week, the Malaysian team could exceed their pre-Games Bowls and Para Bowls target of two medals.
“At every big tournament, Malaysia tries to make it through to the next stage,” Ahmad Nawawi said.
“We are an Asian country and we know Australia, Scotland and England are the biggest countries for bowlers, but we keep trying to beat them.”
Ahmad Nawawi and Abdul Rahman’s Women’s Pairs victory on Sunday came at the expense of hosts Scotland to extinguish Caroline Brown and Beth Riva’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
“I felt so nervous and my skip (Abdul Rahman) was also nervous because the supporters were very loud,” Ahmad Nawawi said.
“But I really enjoyed the game because we could show Malaysia also have really good bowlers.”