The China bowlers and coaches in a group photo with Huang Kai (right) and his assistant Yang Chun (centre, front row). – Photo by Teo Chi Wei
KUCHING: The China bowling team will be using the Sarawak International Open Tenpin Bowling Championship (SIOTBC) at Megalanes Sarawak, Batu Kawa from April 25 to 28 as a good warm-up tournament in preparation for the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia this August.
Team manager Huang Kai said they also chose this tournament due to good rapport between the Chinese Bowling Association and the Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress.
They are also planning exposure trips in Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong.
“Our outing here is Kuching will be more focused on preparing our bowlers for the Asian Games and I think it will be a very good learning experience especially for the young bowlers who will be competing with some of the world’s top bowlers,” he told the Borneo Post.
Huang said there is no medal target set for the team comprising six male and six female bowlers so as not to create unnecessary pressure on them.
But he expressed confidence that they will win some medals.
“We have the nation’s top players like Mi Zhengli, Du Jianchao, Wang Hongbo, Peng Rui and Zhang Chunli who have won medals in international meets such as the World Bowling Championship and Asian Bowling Championship,” said Huang who is very impressed with the facilities at Megalanes Sarawak.
“We are also impressed with the hospitality accorded to us by the organisers and the people here are very friendly. As there are many Chinese people here speaking Mandarin, we do feel at home,” he added.
The championship organised by Amateur Tenpin Bowling Association of Sarawak (ABAS) and sanctioned by World Bowling (WB) and Asian Bowling Federation (ABF) has attracted more than 350 bowlers from 10 countries including China, Chinese Taipei, India, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Guam, Vietnam and host Malaysia.
Malaysia are represented by 23 bowlers from the national team, national elite team, national backup team and national youth team as well as 50 bowlers from Sarawak’s elite team and development team. Categories include Open, Classified, Senior and Youth (U25, 21, 18, 15, 12).