EYEING FOR MORE TITLES: The jubilant Nadine Kong posing with the Sarawak Closed Tenpin Bowling Championship Challenge Trophy and the Ladies’ Open trophy she won recently in Kuching.
SIBU: It was a great start for state kegler Nadine Kong Xiao Feng who won the Ladies’ Open title in the recent Sarawak Closed Ten-pin Bowling Championship held in Kuching.
Nadine amassed a total of 3,187 pin-falls in 16 games to finish top in the ladies’ section but sixth in the overall standing.
Nevertheless, the 18-year-old spinner from SMK Methodist pocketed RM500, a trophy and the challenge trophy.
Her next big tournament is the Inter-state and National Youth Bowling Championship to be held at the Sunway Pyramid Bowling Centre in Kuala Lumpur in March.
“I look forward to the championship and hopefully, I can improve on my game, strike big and return with some positive results to cherish,” she told the Post in an exclusive interview yesterday.
At the Sarawak Closed Championship, state kegler Jonathan Ding Sagan was the champion with a total of 3,382 pin-falls in 16 games.
Nadine, who defeated Nerosha Keligit and Jocelyna Judith Jonathan admitted it was no walk in the park during the championship as she had to dig deep before overcoming her opponents.
According to her, she could have qualified for the stepladder to take on the top four winners for the final push but she fumbled in the 15th and 16th game for only 149 pins and 180 pins with a total of 329 points.
“The difference was only five points but in bowling, even one point matters. Honestly, the 15th game was my worst performance and I just failed to lift my game. Anyway, I still have the Special Ladies’ title to savor and that should be a big encouragement to me,” she added.
While waiting for her SPM results, Nadine is working hard at Sibu Superbowl with Tiong, another national youth bowler here, to polish her game thrice a week.
“It was fun watching the people taking part in the bowling games and perhaps out of curiosity, I told my mum that I also wanted to get a try. My mum gave me the ball and that was when I threw my first bowl. Slowly, I developed a passion for the sport which I feel is very suitable for girls as it is a soft game,” she said.
Nadine who first took up bowling at the age of 12 made her first breakthrough in the 2009 Sibu Open and in Pahang Sukma, she competed in girls’ singles, doubles, trios, mixed doubles and team events.