MALAYSIAN OPEN 2009 GIRLS GRADED MASTER FINAL

18th March, P.Jaya: Nur Umirah Abdul Raduan of Kuala Lumpur and Jason Syow of Melaka took their maiden victories when the duo emerged as champions in the Milo International Youth Girl's and Boy's Masters of the Canon 32nd Malaysian International Open.
Nur Umirah, 17 of SMK Putrajaya Precint 8/1, took over the running after the eighth game and went on to clinch the Youth Girl's crown with 1960 over the 10-gaes finals. Natasha Roslan of Selangor, who was battling the lead with Nurfadeena Aznel of Kedah, finished second with 1939. Nur Umirah, who won her first title when she triumphed in the 2005 Shalin Cup for under 15. She took up the sport 4 years ago. Nurfadeena settled for third spot after she knocked down a total of 1886. Selva Nivashini of Selangor, who led at the start with a superb opening game of 258 missed the podium after finishing fourth with 1860 while Nur Farah Shafiqah rounded up the top 5 with 1755.	Girl's Graded winners, Natasha Roslan, Nur Umirah and Nurfadeena Aznel
Melaka's 13-year-old sensation, Jason Syow upstaged the field of 18 when he snatched the victory in the final game. The pint-sized youngster led from game 4 onwards until the ninth game when Muhd Aizudeen Mustaqim of Selangor overtook him to lead by 4 pins. But Jason fought back galantly to take the win with a final game of 204 for a total of 2096 and a similar margin of 4 pins from Muhd Aizudeen. The runnerup settled for second with 2092 while Amir Affendi of Selangor claimed third placing with 2050. Jason, a Form 1 student from SMK Tinggi Melaka who came in third in the 2008 GP Finals for Under 12 Boy's division, showed tremendous fighting spirit in the last game to overhaul Muhd Aizudeen.	Jason Syow with his champion's trophy
The qualifying for the Youth Open categories will end this evening and their Masters finals will be staged on Thursday morning. Qualifying for the rest of the categories will end on March 19th and the Masters finals will be held on Friday, March 20th. Photos by Terence Yaw.