PETALING JAYA: Stay in the present and push yourself to be mentally stronger.
Those are some of the take-home points bowler Natasha Roslan (pic) grasped during her outing in the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, in the United States.
At the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, the 26-year-old won a bronze medal in the women’s doubles with Sin Li Jane.
In her first international outing in two-and-a-half years, the Selangor-born Natasha said the tournament format and string pinsetter method were new to her but the experience will stand her in good stead for future tournaments.
“The coaches told me to be mentally strong and to trust my training. Just be calm and present,” she said.
“I have learnt that tournaments like these are a battle with yourself. You have to be mentally strong to win.”
The World Games were contested in the match play format, where each bowler in a team is paired against one from another team. Whoever has the highest score for a particular game wins a point.
Players played in the best-of-three games knockout system.
As for the string pinsetter, strings are attached to the top of each pin. There is no interference with how the pins fall. The pins are pulled back into the rack, and the machine resets the ones that weren’t knocked down after the roll.
“It was very new to me because they use the new string pins. Plus, it was nerve-wracking because I have to be ready from the get-go.
“This is the first knockout tournament that I’ve played in. So it was a really valuable experience and one that will prepare me for future knockout tournaments.”
