National bowler Tun Ameerul Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam found the right boost before the World Cup when he finished third in the Amir Cup in Qatar. The 25-year lost to Canada’s Nathan Ruest-Lajoie 187-226 in the second round of the stepladder finals to finish third at the Qatar International Bowling Center, Doha yesterday. In the opening knockout round, he had thumped England’s Dominic Barret (228) and Qatar’s Jassim Al-Muraikhi (223) with 236 pins. Top seed Christopher Sloan of Ireland beat Ruest-Lajoie 204-202 for the title. Ameerul took home US$12,000 (RM53,403.10). Sloan won US$25,000 (RM111,256.43) while Ruest-Lajoe settled for US$16,000 (RM71,204.11). Ameerul said it was a timely boost ahead of the World Cup from Jan 5-14 in Hong Kong. He will join Rafiq Ismail, Timmy Tan and Ahmad Muaz Fishol in the men’s event, while the women will be represented by Sin Li Jane, Natasha Roslan, Gillian Lim and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman.

“It’s a great achievement for me in the Amir Cup. The journey was tough. Qualifying for the stepladder finals was very hard because the scores were high. I did better than last year, where I did not make the cut,” he said. “Coming in third is a great achievement for me already. It’s a good start and preparation for the upcoming World Cup in January. Hopefully, I can keep this momentum going.”