SUBANG: Malaysia's wait for the women's singles gold medal at the Sea Games continues as keglers Sin Li Jane and Shalin Zulkifli could only manage a silver and bronze medal respectively following the final here at Sunway Mega Lanes on Sunday.
Champion from the 2011 edition, Cherie Tan of Singapore, reclaimed the gold medal with a commanding performance, amassing a total of 1,413 pinfalls after six games.
The victory was sweeter for the Singaporean who had to give away her bronze medal at the previous edition in Singapore two years ago, after the host nation secured the gold and silver.
Li Jane, who also finished second to Cherie in Palembang, this time reeled in a six-game total of 1,300 followed by Shalin, who was the last Malaysian to win the women's singles gold 16 years ago, on 1,297.
"I didn't really bowl well at first but Shalin and I really did help each other towards the end.
"This is my third Sea Games since Palembang where I came really close to winning the gold but lost by a pin.
"I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will continue to improve in the coming events," said the 25-year-old Perak-born, who will compete in the doubles event next.
National coach, Holloway Cheah was not entirely pleased but did assured that Malaysia would be raking in the gold medals soon.
"I won't say I'm happy because we were definitely hoping for gold. We are not here to play for silver or bronze but the bowlers didn't do bad, it's just that we had expected better scores.
"Having said that, I think we need to tie things up a little more. We made a few mistakes early on and we need to work on them," said Holloway.
At the previous edition, Malaysia emerged overall champions in bowling with five gold medals, one silver and four bronze.