KUALA LUMPUR: It will be a bumper season for the national bowling squad as they aim to continue their momentum from 2017 with the Indonesia Asian Games on Aug 18-Sept 2 being the top priority for coach Holloway Cheah.
The bowlers, who reported for training after a short break on Dec 28, will kick off their season with the European Bowling Tour’s (EBT) Track AIK International in Stockholm, which starts on Tuesday, and the Brunswick Ballmaster in Helsinki on Jan 9-15.
Those selected are Rafiq Ismail, Timmy Tan, Alex Liew, Adrian Ang, Syafiq Ridhwan Abd Malek, Ahmad Muaz Fishol, Sin Li Jane, Shalin Zulkifli, Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman, Esther Cheah and Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi.
In March, they will return to Europe for the prestigious Brunswick Euro Challenge in Munich for their third EBT event.
The bowlers will also compete in the Inter-State Championships, Thailand Open and Malaysia Open, before they head to the United States for tournaments.
The Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) have planned only two tournaments each in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour and the Professional Women’s Bowlers Association (PWBA) Tour in June for the bowlers before they return to KL on the following month to prepare for the Asian Games.
The other priority tournaments are the World Youth Championships in Detroit (July 24-Aug 3) and the Men’s World Championships in Hong Kong (Nov 24-Dec 5).
MTBC secretary Maradona Chok said the bowlers are eager to continue their momentum from last year and record more significant firsts for the country.
“After a bumper 2017, we want to create more history this year. The bowlers want to take Malaysia to the next level,” said Maradona on Monday.
“We have only planned a short trip to the US as Holloway wants his Asian Games squad to return for centralised training in July.
“Our women’s team are ranked World No 1 and they will need to prove their status in the Asian Games where South Korea and Singapore will be their main rivals.
“Our men’s are only ranked sixth in the world, but I believe they can upset the form book in Indonesia.
“The goal is to win as many medals, preferably gold, at the Asian Games.”
At the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, Holloway’s team took four silver, while in Guangzhou in 2010, the bowlers took home two gold, one silver and one bronze.