Bowling team alert to impact of new scoring format
PALEMBANG : The introduction of a new scoring system at the current Asian Games poses a chal lenge for bowlers at the Jakabaring Bowling Centre, according to Shalin Zulkif li.
The 4 0 - yea r - old veteran national bowler said the Frame Scoring System, used for the first time in a major multi- sport event, makes the competition unpredictable. The bowling events start on Wednesday.
Shal in, who has col lected eight medals in six appearances at the Asiad, noted that the new format would allow the keglers to gain high scores as a player would get 30 points for each strike. South Koreans Choi Jina, who has a record 10 medals, and Choi Bok- eum ( nine) are the only keglers to win more medals at the Asian Games than Shalin.
“The format had been used in the Asian Bowling Federation (ABF) Tours for the past three years but this is the first time it is being used in a major event. All of us do not know what is going to happen.
“It might give an advantage to the spinners. The approach will be different also. We will try to adjust,” she told Bernama when met during a check on the equipment at the venue here. According to the competition format, each game consists of 10 frames. If a kegler gets a strike, he wil l get 30 points. I f the kegler spares the frame, he will get 10 points plus the number of pins felled in the first shot.
Sha l in, who h a s won four Asian Games gold medals so far, is anticipating strong competit ion from host Indonesia, Chine s e Taipei , Singapore and Thailand.
“Every day, we have to make some adjustments and make changes, because it wi l l be different.
“A lot of things can af fect bowling, such as the oil patterns, heat, where the lanes are located, for example facing the entrance, how cold the air conditioning is, who bowls before you, and so on,” she added.
The Malaysian women’s team also includes Esther Cheah, Sin Li Jane, Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman, Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi and Natasha Roslan. Team manager Maradona Chok said the new format makes it difficult for keglers to recover if they go down with mistakes earlier in the game and so they have to be consistent throughout the day.
Chok , who is also t he Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress ( MTBC) secretarygeneral, said winning bowling medals at the current Games is also made more challenging as organisers have cut down the number of events from 12 to six. The six events are men’s a nd women’s trio, team of six and Masters. — Bernama