KUALA LUMPUR: Lawn bowler Idham Amin Ramlan made amends for his poor 2022 Commonwealth Games outing by retaining the 2022 Malaysia Games (Sukma) men's singles gold medal at the Bukit Kiara Sports Complex here today.
The Terengganu athlete was among the contenders for medals in Birmingham last July but returned empty-handed in the doubles and fours.
In the final today, Idham, 22, was in sizzling form as he outplayed Amirul Danial Abdul Rahim of Johor 21-13. In the semi-finals, however, Idham was lucky to beat Sarawak's Airul Hafizi Jaffar 18-17.
Idham said: "I was frustrated after not winning a medal in my first Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
"It was a poor debut, and I was disappointed. But it motivated me to train harder for Sukma. My goal was to retain my singles crown.
"The semi-final was close, and I did not want to put myself in a similar situation in the final. I took a big lead and won the match," said Idham.
Idham is no longer in the national team as his contract ended last month after the Commonwealth Games.
He said his main goal this year was to regain his place in the national team.
"I hope I have done enough to impress the national coaches. I think I am suited for the singles."
Terengganu were the overall champions with a haul of 3-0-2, followed by Perak (2-3-0) and Federal Territories (2-0-0).
RESULTS
* All finals unless stated
Men's singles: Idham Amin Ramlan (Ter) bt Amirul Danial Abdul Rahim (Joh) 21-13;
Bronze: Haiqal Roslan (Sel) bt Airul Hafizi Jaffar (Swk) 21-13.
Fours: Terengganu (Farhan Haikal Jamaluddin, Aiman Harith Abdul Aziz, Iimam Harith, Iskandar Shah Rusli) bt Perak (Atiq Imran Aminuddin, Aiman Hakim Che Ahmad, Haziq Azizi Dzulkeple, Ali Emran Ahmad Ridzuan) 11-10;
Bronze: Sarawak (Abdul Rahman Amimminuddin, Azhar Samara, Iskandar Zulkarnain Sukardi, Ramadhan Jeffy) bt Sabah (Abdul Manaf Saujor, Shah Ridzuan Manis, Edver Rivaldee Holiday, Afif Aiman Affendy) 12-10.
Women's pairs: Nur Nadhirah Azmi-Ain Nurnajwa Norhisham (Per) bt Nurul Alia Fitrah Ali-Athirah Rodzi (Ked) 24-5;
Bronze: Fatin Izzati Nizamri-Jamiah Hasbi (Swk) bt Dayangku Haslyn Suraya Awang Husin-Norcahaya Zakaria (Sab) 13-11.
Triples: Perak (Suriani Rosli, Nor Azzahara Abdul Razak, Aleena Ahmad Nawawi) bt Sabah (Nor Zarifah Wajihah Zaidi, Adilah Justine, Nornajmi Jannah Jalil) 15-12;
Bronze: Terengganu (Noor Zamziezah Ahmad, Nur Nabialh Athirah Rafee, Nurul Balqis Anisha Bakar) bt FT (Hanisah Hassan, Nurulfarra Adeeba Ridhwan, Aqilah Syazwani Rosland) 20-7.