KUCHING: Athletes in Sarawak should emulate national women bowler Jacqueline Jenelee Sijore in striving for excellence in the international arena.
Assistant Sports Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin said yesterday that Jacqueline has done the state and country proud by capturing the women’s singles gold at the World Women’s Bowling Championship in Hong Kong on Sept 4.
Feeling very pleased with the excellent performance from 19-year-old Jacqueline, Lee, who is also Assistant Minister of Communications, hoped that her achievement would motivate other athletes to strive harder in their respective sports.
“This is another golden debut and milestone for Malaysia in ten-pin bowling. A young rookie from Sarawak,
Jacqueline J Sijore has just won the singles gold at the World Women’s Championship at Hong Kong Bowling City which has put Malaysia again on the world bowling map,” Lee said.
“Pitted against the more established and renowned world class bowlers, Jacqueline remained unperturbed to defy all odds and came out clean to win the prestigious title.”
He congratulated Jacqueline for her great achievement which only materialised through strong commitment and dedication in her training.
The assistant minister also commended her parents who have given her the fundamental support and have been with her from the beginning until now.
Lee said the Ministry of Social Development and Urbanisation and the Sarawak State Sports Council have been providing strong supporting roles and working very closely with the Amateur Tenpin Bowling Association of Sarawak (Abas) and the local coaches on the development and implementation of training programmes on bowing in Sarawak.
“In Sukma XIII in Melaka last year, Sarawak won seven golds to emerge the overall champions in bowling. All the achievements are the result of a dedicated team of committee members and volunteers of Abas who have worked untiringly to support and contribute towards bowling in Sarawak. They deserve commendation too,” he added.
Jacqueline made world headlines when she captured women’s singles gold in a field of more established and renowned world-class bowlers.
She qualified for the step-ladder finals with lines of 266, 279, 267, 258, 202, 214, amassing 1486 pins. She defeated top seed Shayna Ng of Singapore 246-214 in the semi-finals to advance to the title decider against Son Yun-Hee of South Korea.
In the final, Yun-Hee fired the first salvo with a solid strike, while Jacqueline responded with a 9-spare. In the next frames, Jacqueline reciprocated with a strike and another 9-spare. Meanwhile, after a 9-spare, the South Korean reeled in a turkey to hold an advantage over Jacqueline after the fifth frame. Jacqueline was unperturbed and released a string of eight consecutive strikes and a 6-pin count to wrest the gold medal for Malaysia with a score of 266 against Yun-Hee’s 217.
“I’m speechless and shocked to have achieve my dream of being a world champion this quick. I just felt pretty good on the lanes with the guidance of my coach. Hence, everything goes on the way we wanted it to be,” said Jacqueline.