National keglers to get ball rolling again
KUALA LUMPUR: The national tenpin bowling squad have been given permission to start training Wednesday, after being away from the bowling centre for more than a month.
Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) secretarygeneral Maradona Chok said the keglers are required to follow strict standard operating procedures (SOP) under the sports bubble approach to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The bowlers will be divided into two groups based on where they opt to stay, whether under the camp-based quarantine at the National Sports Council (NSC) hostel in Bukit Jalil or home-based quarantine.
They will all train at the Sunway Megalanes, but the keglers from different groups will not face each other as their training schedules will be different.
“Athletes are looking forward to getting back on the lanes. They will be split into two groups those under quarantine-based stay in Bukit Jalil will train in the morning, while the home-based athletes will train after the first group has left.
“One bowler to a lane to maintain maximum social distancing. Coaches will be masked and monitoring from behind only and not on the lanes. Other matters with regard to travelling to and from Sunway Megalanes will follow all SOPs set by the National Security Council,” he told Bernama yesterday.
Chok said 19 bowlers will be placed in home-based quarantine, while 16 will be staying at the NSC hostel.
The government on Friday gave the green light for the resumption of all non-contact sports and recreational activities both outdoors and indoors, including bowling, swimming, archery and extreme sports. The national squad before this were unable to continue their training after opting to stay out of the camp-based training bubble when the Movement Control Order 2.0 was implemented on Jan 13, while bowling centres were not allowed to operate to contain the spread of the virus.
After more than a year without high-level tournaments, the Macau International Open Bowling Championships scheduled for June 14-19 could be the first oversea tournament for the national team, depending on developments regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.