PETALING JAYA: It was a frustrating day for Malaysia in the Commonwealth Tenpin Bowling Championship as the Siti Shazwani Ahmad Suhaimi-Dayang Khairuniza combination blew an early lead in the women’s doubles to settle for silver in Auckland, New Zealand.

The pair knocked down a total 2,709 pins to finish second – just seven behind Singapore’s Bernice Lim-Geraldine Ng, who scored 2,716.

It was Malaysia’s second silver in the tournament after Siti’s runner-up effort in the singles on Tuesday.

Australians Bec Whiting-Ann Maree Putney knocked down a total 2,602 pins to take bronze.

But it could have easily been Malaysia’s first gold medal of the tournament as Siti-Dayang came charging out of the blocks to take the lead in the first four games.

Dayang, who was woeful in the singles, was all fired up as she notched high lines of 258, 244 and 263 in the first three games.

But the Malaysian pair faltered when it mattered most, posting a low combined score of 386 in the fifth game to hand over the lead to the Singaporeans.

A frustrated Dayang admitted that they blew it.

“It felt good to have my rhythm back ... I don’t know why I always struggle in the singles,” said Dayang.

“But it’s really frustrating indeed to lose the gold medal by just seven pins. We weren’t really aware of the results during the competition and had no idea Singapore had caught up so fast.

“After the good start, I figured that we had a healthy lead and it was only in the last game that we knew we had lost.”

Siti blamed the lane condition in the fourth game for their troubles.

“We were struggling to get strikes on lane 21 and 22. It was really quite frustrating not to hold on to the lead,” said Siti.

In the men’s doubles, the pairing of Isaac Russell Paul-Mohd Rafiq Ismail could only manage a total of 2,601 to finish fifth.

Singapore’s Javier Tan-Jaris Goh emulated their female counterparts to take gold with 2,702 pinfalls. England’s Christopher Oates-John Wells (2,691) took silver and Australia’s Sam Cooley-Brendan Meads (2,651) bronze.

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