6th October, Petaling Jaya: Defending champion and 27th Asian Championships triple gold medalist, Sin Li Jane of Perak led the Women's Open qualifying standings of the 46th Malaysian National Bowling Championships with Chong Jun Foo of Sarawak led the Men's Open division.

Sin, who was recently crowned PWBA Bowler of the Year 2024 after winning four titles in July including the USBC Queens, rolled lines of 222, 245, 222, 245, 213 and 217 in her Squad 6 6-games qualifying rounds to lead the standings with 1364.

Already a winner of the national title four times, her recent form puts her the firm favorite to retain her title she is defending. 27th Asian Championships Team silver medalist and Women's Singles silver and two bronze medalist of last week's 35th Malaysian Interstate Bowling Championships, Faten Najihah of Pahang claimed second spot with 1325.

Four time national champion, Sharon Koh of Kuala Lumpur and 35th Malaysian Interstate Women's Doubles gold medalist, Gillian Lim of Sarawak tied third spot with 1316. Natasha Roslan, 35th Malaysian Interstate All Events gold medalist, automatically qualifies for the Masters Finals.

Meanwhile, qualifying for the Men's Open division is also intensifying with two more days left. Leading the pack is 2024 Sarawak Open Classified champion, Chong Jun Foo of Sarawak. Chong amassed 1358 total with 237, 244, 213, 213, 204 and 247 in Squad 9 on October 5.

Last year's Youth Open champion and 35th Malaysian Interstate Youth Boys All Events bronze medalists, Megat Zaqrul Haikal of Pulau Pinang impressed by taking up second spot with 1349 while 35th Malaysian Interstate two gold medalist, Timmy Tan of Kuala Lumpur slot in third with 1343.

Muhammad Zharfan Bin Shaidi of Selangor and 35th Interstate Team silver medalist, Musayyar Bin Khalid of Sarawak rounded out the top five with 1330 and 1327 respectively. 35th Malaysian Interstate All Events gold medalist, Muhammad Syazirol Shamsuddin of Kedah will give up his automatic qualification spot to the first reserves as he is also the defending champion.

Qualifying will end on October 7 with the last squad for Youth divisions ending at the 9.00am Squad 16 and for the other divisions ending at the 1.00pm Squad 17. The Youth and Senior Masters Finals will follow and the Graded and Open Masters Finals to be contested on October 8.