The best of the world to scorch lanes in Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: The prestigious World Bowling Tour (WBT) is coming to Malaysia. The first-ever stop in this country for the world’s premier circuit will be in September.

The inaugural WBT Brunswick Asia Challenge (BAC), to be held at the Sunway Mega Lanes from Sept 20-26, boasts a lucrative purse of at least US$100,000 (RM411,000).

The men’s champion will take home a US$25,000 (RM102,750) jackpot while the women will slug it out for the US$10,000 (RM41,100) top prize.

The BAC will make up the three back-to-back WBT Asian Swing tournaments that will include the PBA-WBT Andong Cup in South Korea (Sept 14-18) and PBA-WBT Thailand in Bangkok (Sept 28-Oct 4).

Like BAC, Andong Cup is a new event while WBT Thailand has been part of the circuit since its inception in 2011.

The PBA-WBT Emir Cup, slated for March 1-7, is the other meet to be held in Asia.

Sunway Mega Lanes chief executive officer Foong Tak Meng said the groundbreaking tournament was expected to feature no less than 300 world-class competitors.

“The Malaysian bowling fans are in for a treat,” said Tak Meng.

“The field will be made up of top professionals from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and national bowlers from the rest of Asia, especially from the hosts.

“With three consecutive events in Asia, we can expect a big number of US PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) stars turning up.

“This will set up a thrilling battle between the American pros against the rest of the world on the WBT.”

Tak Meng, a former national youth coach, said the idea was mooted by Brunswick, a renowned US bowling equipment manufacturer, a couple of years back.

“The BAC is akin to the illustrious Brunswick Euro Challenge in Europe.

“Brunswick was very keen to have one in Asia too,” said Tak Meng.

“We have been in discussion for the last two years and it’s finally come to fruition.

“It’s such a great honour for Malaysia to play host to such a massive event. The onus is on us to stage the inaugural edition successfully and build on it. Our ultimate aim is to make it a regular event on WBT for many seasons to come.”

Tak Meng added that the organisers would be writing to the PBA to request for a co-sanction with its Tour.

“We are still unsure if the BAC will automatically be awarded with a joint-sanction with PBA Tour at the moment,” explained Tak Meng.

“The events in Thailand, Qatar and South Korea are all part of the PBA Tour schedule. Let’s hope we will be able to enjoy a similar status too.

“If we do acquire sanctioning status, then I really hope our bowlers can make the most of it to win the country’s maiden PBA Tour and WBT titles.”