The Qubica AMF Bowling World Cup womenâs title jinx continued to haunt Malaysia, when Natasha Roslan lost in the semifinal to Australiaâs Rebecca Whiting 176-199 this afternoon in Palembang.
Bowling queen Shalin Zulkilfi had failed in her seven appearances to wrest the title and only managed to come in second in her debut in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1996, a feat which Sin Li Jane also achieved as a two-time runner-up, in Wroclaw in 2014 and last year in Las Vegas and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman finishing runner-up in Hermosillo, Mexico, in 2017.
Only Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek has become the first Malaysian to win the World Cup menâs title in 2012 in Wroclaw, Poland since the tournamentâs inception in 1965 in Dublin, Ireland.
âIt is disappointing to have done so well the last five days and now to be out by a single game. But that is what this tournament is all about,â said Natasha, 23 who was making her debut in the tournament.
âThe lane was definitely different from the previous days and I was already having problems in the third stage of stage 8 games league style round robin earlier in the morning.â
Natasha has finished second to qualify for the semifinal to play Rebecca who had finished third with four wins and four losses with a total of 8427 (including bonus points) behind overnight leader USAâs Kelly Kulick who won also won four wins and lost four with a total of 8616.
Natasha had also lost to Rebecca in the league round 181-236 and had linesof 225,168, 181, 203, 203, 210, 195 and 203 in the eight games to complete a total of 40 games over six days. Ironically, Natasha had defeated Kulick in the league and positional round â 225-215 and 203-189.
Australiaâs Rebecca Whiting from Australia had a total of 8295 (five wins and three losses) while Aumi Guerra from Dominican Republic who won the title twice â in 2010 and 2011 â had a total of 8262 (3 wins and 5 losses) in making the semifinals.
Guerra won the other semifinals against Kulick 194-179, to see both top and second seed, Kulick and Natasha shown the exit.
Koreaâs Jeon Eunhee had missed the cut for semifinal by 17 pins despite winning six out eight games and elevating herself from an overnight seventh spot to fifth.
Rebecca went to win the title on her fourth attempt to defeat Aumi, competing in her 15th edition, in a close fought battle 172-162.
Rebecca had finished 7th in 2016 in her debut appearance, 6th in 2017 and 17th last year. âI was also a little nervous as it was 
the first time and as much as I tried the strikes were not coming in,â said Natasha who could garner only two strikes in the game.
âI was also having a little problem with my thumb which has a cut from yesterday. But that is not an excuse. I just could deliver when it mattered most,â said the 2016 World Youth Masters champion and member of 2017 World championship winning team who hails from Selangor
âBut it was an experience and as a debutant I think I have done well. But personally, I think I could have done better and I am disappointed.
âHope I will get another chance at this tournament in the future.â Adrian Ang on the other hand had failed to make the last eight on Friday when he finished from an overnight 16th position to 14th spot with his total of 6522, which was 186 pins behind the last qualifier at eight spot Jasem Alsaqer of Kuwait.
In the menâs category South Africaâs Francois Louw, 2015 runners-up, making his fourth appearance despite some hiccups in the League round, made it good to wrest the title defeating Indonesiaâs Ryan Lailisang 237-202.
âI am glad that I had my hiccups in the earlier because I did not want a repeat of 2015 when I lead all the only to lose in the final to Hong Kongâs Wu Siu Hong,â said a relieved 33 year-old Louw who became his countryâs second winner.
Anne Jacobs won the womenâs title in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Ryan Lailisang, cheered on by his home crowd and who bowling in his eighth championship with a best third placing finish in 2009, had so much to clinch the title, but it was not to be as he had to be contend with his second spot.
Earlier in the morning in the League round, Louw who leading from day one till the final game today, nearly missed the cut when he finished fourth with a grand total of 8805 (3 wins and five losses).
It was Germanyâs Oliver Morig who was playing second fiddle to Louw who went to finished tops with a total of 8868 (four wins and four losses).
But in the semifinals Louw made amends to show Morig the exit when he defeated him 262-196. In the other semifinals, local boy Ryan Lalisang defeated defending champion Sam Cooley 239-158 to play Louw in the final.
Sam Cooley had earlier finished third with a total of 8852 (six wins and two losses) while host Indonesiaâs Ryan Lalisang fought his way from the fifth spot going into the final eighth positional round to finish second with a total of 8818 to edge out Irelandâs Christopher Sloan who was placed fourth going into the final round.
Ryan fired a 254 game against Czech Republicâs Jaroslav Lorencâs 206 game and earned another bonus 30 pins to move up the ladder. Ryan was trailimng by 6 pins for the fourth spot going to the positional round. Sloan had a total of 8722 to miss the cut by 88 pins.
