KUCHING: Sukma XVIII gold medalist Christopher Tiong
Lee Siong will be out to make amends for his poor outing last year in the Astro 41st National Bowling Championship at Sunway Megalanes, Sunway Pyramid, Selangor from April 21-29.
He was fourth in the men’s singles after registering 1,365 pinfalls.
The 31st edition of the National Inter-state Bowling Championship will also be held from April 23-26 at the same venue.
Amateur Bowling (Tenpin) Association of Sarawak (Abas) have made preparations for a full team of four men, four women, four boys and four girls to represent the state for the championships.
In the men’s line-up will be gold medalists from Sukma Bong Kihow (Sukma Pahang 2012), Daniel Tan (Sukma Perlis 2014), Chong Jun Foo (Asian Youth gold medalist, Sukma Malacca 2010 and Sukma Pahang 2012) and Ervin Lim (Sukma Sarawak 2016).
In the women’s team are ex-national bowler Dayang Khairuniza Dhiyana Abang Jamaliddon, Dayang Aida Natasha Abang Jamaliddon (Sukma Malacca 2010), Nurafidza Mohd Amran (Sukma Malacca 2010) and Nerosha Keligit Thiagarajan (Sukma Perlis 2014 and Sukma Sarawak 2016).
The boys and girls teams are made up mostly from Sukma 2016 team except for Dayang Yumi Azreen Abang Azman and Abner Loo Chun Lik, who will be making their debut in the Inter-state Championships.
Others are Christopher Tiong, Abang Afiq Yazid Abang Azman, Musayyar Khalid, Jocelyna Judith Jonathan, Nur Aina Kamalia Abdul Ayub and Gillian Lim Siew Giok.
In 2016, Wilayah Persekutuan emerged the overall champions while Selangor were second and Sarawak third.
However, Sarawak boys took the overall boys team title after Musayyar won the boys singles and partnered Abang Afiq Yazid to win the boys doubles while Abang Afiq Yazid was the all-events champion.
This year, with Wilayah Persekutuan and Penang withdrawing from the competition, the chances of an overall win for Sarawak are very high.