DESPITE not competing in several Asian tournaments, Malaysian bowlers Zulmazran Zulkifli and Shalin Zulkifli are ranked men's second and women's fifth respectively in the latest Asian Bowling Federation rankings.

It's commendable considering that Malaysian bowlers have only competed in seven out of 18 Asian ranking tournaments so far.

Zulmazran, who started the year by winning the Malaysian Open in March, has 329 points behind United Arab Emirates bowler Hussain Al-Suwaidi (493).

The 25-year-old finished second in the World Ranking Masters in April in Jakarta and helped the country win the team gold at the Asian Championships in Hong Kong in July.

Zulmazran has a chance to retain the Asian No 1 ranking for Malaysia, last held by Alex Liew in 2005, provided he competes in some of the remaining six Asian tournaments.
He will next compete in the Ankara Open, which is an European ranking event on Sept 13-21.

Adrian Ang, a double gold medallist in the Asian meet in Hong Kong, is 11th with 212 points followed by Alex Liew at 13th on 208.

In the women's category, Shalin, who will make her Professional Bowlers' Association (PBA) Women's Tour debut in October in the United States, has 199 points.

Shalin is not expected to improve on her ranking due to her commitments in the Women's Tour.

Hong Kong's Chan Shuk Han leads with 321 followed by South Korea's Choi Jin A (260) and Jeon Eun Hee (220).

Wendy Chai, who won the women's title in the World Ranking Masters, is sixth with 179 points and one rung below is Zandra Aziela, the Malaysian Open runner-up, on 176.