Malaysian Open rolls back in November

PETALING JAYA: Good news for the local bowling fans. The 41st Malaysian Open will not be scrapped.

The RM400,000 tournament, initially slated for March 26-April 4,will make a return to the Sunway Mega Lanes from Nov 22-28.

Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) secretary-general Maradona Chok said the organisers were pleased to be able to slot the tournament into a packed international schedule which has a number of top events already lined up for last quarter of the year.

Among the notable ones include four World Bowling Tour (WBT) legs – WBT Andong Cup in South Korea (Sept 14-18), WBT Brunswick Asia Challenge at the Sunway Mega Lanes (Sept 20-26), WBT Thailand (Sept 28-Oct 4) and WBT Kuwait (Nov 1-8).

There’s also the Qubica AMF World Cup from Nov 8-16 while the Oct 18-28 window has been reserved for the Asian Championships in Hong Kong, in the event it is postponed from its planned dates of July 4-14 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s a good thing that we managed to bring back the tournament, rather than cancelling it altogether,” said Maradona.

“We couldn’t ask for more. Those are the only dates available.

“The Malaysian Open will be held the week right after the World Cup, so hopefully some will make their way here from Kuwait. I believe we can gather a fantastic field this time.”

The rescheduling of the Malaysian Open will mean the national teams and professional clubs can expose their youth bowlers to world-class action.

That’s because the 21st Junior AllStars Bowling Championships, regarded as one of the most prestigious junior tournaments in Asia, will follow from Dec 7-13.

The 40th edition of the Malaysian Open in May last year saw national bowler Ahmad Muaz Fishol and Charlene Lim being crowned as the men and women’s champions.

The tournament boasts one of the biggest purses in the South-East Asian region with the men’s Open winner set to take home RM50,000 and the women’s champion RM20,000.