BUKIT JALIL: The national bowling squad plan to capitalise on home ground advantage at next year’s SEA Games in a bid to deliver a bigger gold medal haul.
Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) secretary Maradona Chok said there was a possibility that Malaysia would revert to the traditional competition format for the Games.
At the Bangkok SEA Games last December, hosts Thailand adopted a one game knockout matchplay system to determine the medallists.
It saw the national squad win only two gold medals through Syazirol Shamsuddin and Rafiq Ismail in the men's doubles and the women’s team of four comprising Nur Hazirah Ramli, Adania Redzwan, Sin Li Jane and Natasha Roslan, along with one silver and four bronze medals.
However, previous editions saw the competition contested over six games before the winners were decided.
"During the last SEA Games in Bangkok, there were changes to the format. For next year, we plan to revert to the old format where we play six games before deciding the winners. That is the format we are looking at," said Maradona after attending working commitee meeting with National Sports Council (NSC).
MTBC are also looking to stage as many events as possible to widen the gold medal prospects.
Although the move aligns with Malaysia’s mission to emerge overall champions at the Games, Maradona acknowledged that competition within Southeast Asia is extremely fierce, with many of the world’s best bowlers based in the region.
"Southeast Asia is the strongest region in the world for bowling. We have five countries that are capable of winning world medals. There is no other region with five nations of that calibre.
"Singapore and Malaysia are among the top two, while the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia are also capable of winning medals at world level.
"That is why we need to continue developing the sport here, increase the number of events, and support not only Malaysia but also other Southeast Asian countries so that we can collectively compete strongly against the rest of the world," he added.
When Malaysia hosted the Kuala Lumpur 2017 SEA Games, a total of 11 gold medals were offered and the national squad bagged seven golds, four silvers and three bronzes.
