PETALING JAYA: New recruit Jonathan Ding Sagan has his feet firmly planted on the ground. He will not be setting any lofty targets when he competes in the Brunswick Euro Challenge in Munich.
The annual tournament which is ongoing until next Sunday, sees a host of professional bowlers taking part, including 2013 World Championships Masters silver medallist Chris Barnes of the Unites States, Paul Moor of England and Osku Palermaa of Finland.
The Sarawak-born Jonathan recently joined the elite squad after earning a promotion from the youth squad in January.
Since joining the cream of the crop in Malaysian bowling, Jonathan said he has improved a lot.
“Training under coach Holloway (Cheah) has brought a lot of changes to my game. But it is still too early for me to say that I’m going to do well in any tournament.
“I will keep my expectations low for this tournament. Instead, I will focus on my game and try to improve every day because the level of competition is high,” said the 19-year-old.
The tantalising carrot dangling in front of the Malaysian bowlers this year is a chance to represent the country at the Incheon Asian Games in September. There are currently eight trainees in the men’s elite squad but only six will be selected.
Besides Jonathan, the other trainees are Zulmazran Zulkifli, Syimir Abdul Razak, Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek, Adrian Ang, Alex Liew, Mohd Rafiq Ismail and Timmy Tan.
“Everybody in the squad is looking forward to representing Malaysia at the Asian Games. For somebody new like me, of course it will be difficult.
“But I will try my best to show what I’m really capable of,” said Jonathan.
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