MANILA: It turned out to be a fruitful day for Malaysia in the Asian Youth Championships at Coronado Lanes in Manila, the Philippines today.
Tun Ameerul Luqman Al-Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam clinched the boys' singles on his debut to maintain Malaysia's stranglehold in the event, which Rafiq Ismail won gold in the 2015 Macau edition.
In the girls' singles, a split in the final frame of the sixth and final game denied Nur Amirah Auni Azman the gold as she finished second.
Tun Ameerul, 18, led from the second game onwards with lines of 214, 247, 268, 223, 190, 228 for a 1,370 total, averaging 228.33, to win the title by 72 pins over Japan's silver medalist Takumi Hagasaki (1,298).
Bahrain's Ahmed Al Awadhi took bronze with 1,287 pinfalls.
Brandon Ting was Malaysia's next best performer by finishing 26th on 1,161, followed by Arif Iskandar (31st - 1,108) and Hafiz Zainuddin (43rd - 1,074).
"It is sweet to win the first event on my debut outing in the Asian Youth Championships," said Tun Ameerul, who won one silver (doubles) and one bronze (masters) in last year's World Youth Championships in the United States.
"I can't ask for more, but I need to stay calm as I still have events here.
"Frankly, I did not set a target for medals and scores here. Today, I just focused on rolling good balls in every frame.
"Even when my coaches told me that I just needed 170 pins in the final game to win the title, I still gave my very best to post 228."
In the girls' singles, Nur Amirah led the field by three pins going into the final frame of the sixth game.
However, the 20-year-old recorded a split and could not spare after that.
Nur Amirah took the silver with a 1,321 total, nine pins behind South Korea's gold medallist Kim Ye Sol, while Japan's Shion Izumune finished third on 1,299.
"I did not record a single split before the final frame of the sixth game. It is just my bad luck that I failed to make a good shot.
"The long oil lanes were okay today as I found the lines easily. I hope the silver will spur me for the remaining events," said Nur Amirah.
Faten Najihah Ahmad Faik was Malaysia's next best performer in the girls' singles with 1,210 pinfalls for seventh position, followed by Nora Lyana Nastasia Norkamal (ninth - 1,201) and Nur Ameerahusna Aznel (17th - 1,105)
The tournament continues with the boys' and girls' doubles on Tuesday.