KUALA LUMPUR: National bowler Alex Liew will be away from his family for one whole month.
But the 37-year-old hopes that his sacrifice will bear fruit as he seeks to end his elusive chase for a gold medal at the World Championships in Henderson, Nevada in the United States from Aug 7-31.
The Asian Games double gold medallist and 11 other bowlers will leave on Aug 4 – two weeks earlier – for the world meet to get used to the tournament venue – Strike Zone Bowling Centre.
This will be their longest training stint abroad but it underlines the team’s seriousness in bringing back the gold medal.
Alex has won the silver medal twice in the world series.
He first led the men’s team to second spot at the 2007 edition in Busan before again finishing second with Mohd Nur Aiman in the men’s doubles event in 2011. “I’ve been with the national team for some time now and I’m the most senior bowler. But I believe this is the longest time that I’ll be away from my family. We will be leaving the country in a week’s time,” said Alex.
The others in the men’s team are Zulmazran Zulkifli, Adrian Ang, Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek and back-up bowlers Timmy Tan and Muhd Rafiq Ismail.
Despite the new two faces – Timmy and Rafiq – the left-handed Alex is confident that the men’s team will put up a strong showing.
“Timmy and Rafiq are doing great in the team and none of us doubt their abilities. We have a good and strong team to challenge the others. We believe that the two additional weeks in Nevada will boost our preparations,” he said.
“I have played in countless world meets over the last 15 years but I believe we’ll be going in with a chance of winning medals. Our equipments are in tip-top condition and our chief coach (Holloway Cheah) has been focusing on our sparring. We are perfecting our accuracy on the lanes.
“I’m the oldest in the team but I have no plan to slow down. I still feel very confident and will continue to bowl as long as I can contribute to the nation,” added the father of two children.
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