Gillian leads charge, Li Jane stays alive at US Open
KUALA LUMPUR: National bowler Gillian Lim produced her strongest performance yet on the PWBA Tour by finishing second overall after 24 games of qualifying at the US Women's Open in Lincoln, Nebraska on Saturday.
Making her debut in the season's most demanding major, the 25-year-old impressed with a 4,944 pinfall total, trailing only American veteran Missy Parkin (5,003) heading into Sunday's final block at Sun Valley Lanes.
Gillian's form marks a clear statement of intent, continuing a strong run that includes back-to-back top 10 finishes at the PWBA Rock n' Roll Open and Bowlers Journal Waterloo Open.
"Yes, definitely. It feels really encouraging to see the progress, especially after a tough start earlier in the season," said Gillian.
"I've been focusing a lot on my timing and spare shooting, just trying to stay consistent each day. The lanes have been challenging, but I think my preparation and mental game helped a lot in the first few days."
Gillian is among four Malaysians who made the top 36 cut from the 108-woman field — joined by Natasha Roslan (12th, 4,827), Sin Li Jane (26th, 4,694) and Nora Lyana Nastasia Norkamal (30th, 4,682).
While Gillian sets the pace, the spotlight also remains on Li Jane, the reigning PWBA Tour Player of the Year, who is bidding to defend the title she won last year.
"It's the US Open. Anything is possible," said the 32-year-old, who must deliver a strong showing in the next eight games to break into the top 24 for the match-play phase.
The scores will be carried forward into match play, with only the top five advancing to Tuesday's stepladder finals — making Sunday's block a crucial one, particularly for Li Jane and Nora.
Compatriots Alisha Iman Cheong (45th, 4,202), Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman (47th, 4,593) and Esther Cheah (81st, 4,374) missed the cut.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Athletics-Swede Duplantis soars to new pole vault world record with 6.28m jump
Athletics - Diamond League - Stockholm - Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden - June 15, 2025 Sweden's Armand Duplantis with Usain Bolt before the competition Jonas Ekstromer/TT News Agency via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SWEDEN. STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden's Armand Duplantis soared 6.28 metres to break the world pole vault record at the Diamond League event in Stockholm on Sunday, the 12th time he has set a new world-best mark. The American-born double Olympic champion improved on his previous record, set in February, by one centimetre on his first attempt, making the most of the perfect conditions to delight the home crowd. Having promised fans ahead of the competition that he would try to break the record, Duplantis encouraged the crowd to get behind him from the moment his name was announced at the Swedish capital's Olympic stadium, which was built for the 1912 Games, and they responded by wildly clapping and cheering his every attempt as he cruised through the competition. Kurtis Marschall did his best to put it up to the hometown favourite, but the Australian could only manage a best effort of 5.90 before making three unsuccessful attempts to clear the six-metre mark. That left the field clear for Duplantisas the bar was raised to 6.28 for his world record attempt, and once again, the 25-year-old made it look easy, powering through his run-up before planting his pole and soaring to another world record as the stadium exploded in jubilation. Duplantis sprinted from the landing mat, tearing off his singlet to celebrate his first world record set on Swedish soil with his partner and family. In the women's 400m hurdles, Dutch athlete Femke Bol blazed away over the last 100 metres to win in a season-best time for her of 52.11 seconds, eight-tenths of a second ahead of American Dalilah Muhammad, who came second. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
Tennis-Maria crowned first Queen's Club women's champion in 52 years
Tennis - Queen's Club Championships - Queen's Club, London, Britain - June 15, 2025 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. during the final match against Germany's Tatjana Maria Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge (Reuters) -German qualifier Tatjana Maria capped an incredible week in London as she defeated American eighth seed Amanda Anisimova 6-3 6-4 on Sunday to become the first woman to win a title at Queen's Club in over half a century. The victory marked the end of an extraordinary nine-day stretch for the mother-of-two, ranked 86 in the world, having stunned second seed and Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the previous round. The 37-year-old becomes the oldest player to claim a WTA title since Serena Williams in Auckland 2020. She dropped only one set en route to the title and her dream run also included victories over Kazakh fourth seed Elena Rybakina and Czech sixth seed Karolina Muchova. Maria dominated Anismova with big serves and earned an early break in the first set. She won 12 points in a row as she raced to a 4-1 lead and then held off a brief Anisimova fightback to close out the set. Maria carried her momentum into the second as she again surged into a 4-1 lead. Her seventh ace of the match helped her move up 5-3, and she served out the match two games later to clinch her first title in over two years. "A dream come true. (When) I came here, I was never thinking I could hold the trophy at the end. When we arrived my little girl said 'wow that's a nice trophy, so big' and I said 'OK let's go for it I will try to win it'," Maria said. "In the end I've won it, it's incredible. So happy. Everything is possible if you believe in it. You go your way, doesn't matter which it is but you have to keep going. I want to show this to my kids and hopefully they are proud. It's amazing." Maria threw her arms up as she watched Anisimova's forehand sail wide on match point, before both players shared an affectionate embrace at the net. "I wouldn't be surprised if we see you in the Wimbledon final because you really had me running out there today," Anisimova said. Having started the week as world number 86, Maria is projected to move up to world number 43 when the new rankings are released on Monday. The Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen's welcomed back female competitors for the first time since 1973, when the Soviet Union's Olga Morozova won the title. Wimbledon runs from June 30 to July 13. (Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
New Straits Times
8 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Fritz downs Zverev to secure his first title of the year
STUTTGART: Taylor Fritz defeated Alexander Zverev in straight sets in a rain-hit final in Stuttgart today to win his first ATP title of the season. The American eased to a 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) victory despite being held up by a lengthy rain delay early in the second set. Fritz has now won his last five meetings with Zverev and is set to climb to fourth in the world rankings, a place behind the German. Last year's US Open runner-up lifted his first trophy since winning in Eastbourne 12 months ago, also on grass. Top seed Zverev is still waiting to win the first grass-court title of his career and he has never even reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, which gets under way on June 30. Fritz moved into a one-set lead courtesy of a break in the eighth game. He missed the only break point of the second set but raced through the tie-break, winning the last 11 points of the match. - AFP
