ON A ROLL WITH JON…

The 12th Milo International Junior All-Stars, which is seen as the mecca of tournaments for youths aged 23 and below, has yet again crowned two new Champions.

This year’s lane conditions were in the words of seasoned campaigner Sam Cooley of Australia: ‘a lefties paradise’. Undoubtedly, the lefties were having a field day as the results show at the newly upgraded Brunswick ‘Anvilane’ at Sunway Megalanes. The breakpoint markers were a bonus to those who knew how to capitalize on them. This resulted in extraordinarily high scores throughout the tournament.

 
Tay Hui Chiang of Singapore/SGCC proved he was a worthy winner when he bowled consistently to finish as top seed in the Boys Open Finals, amassing a total of 2492 pinfalls without dropping a game below the 230 mark. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, I read with deep regret the sudden demise of one of our country’s most promising youth bowlers. Ivy and I have known Beng Khai since his early bowling days in Penang. Malaysia has lost a great talent. Our condolences to his family.

Read the article below that was carried by Starsports.

By Shamsul Fitri-Starsports
SERDANG: The national bowling fraternity suffered a shocking loss with the demise of youth bowler Khoo Beng Khai (pic) yesterday.

The 20-year-old was believed to have suffered a heart attack while dri­ving his car into the parking lot at the National Sports Council (NSC) athletes’ residence in Bukit Jalil. He was returning from supper with three other national bowlers – Muhd Nur Aiman Khairuddin, Aris Ardila Santosoh and Johnathan Chan – at about 11.45 on Wednesday.

He was rushed to the Serdang Hos­pital but was pronounced dead at 1.15am yesterday.

“This is a tragic loss to the country and to the bowling fraternity, espcially. We have lost a good young talent,” said NSC director general Datuk Zolkples Embong when met at the hospital yesterday.

The Penang-born Beng Khai was easily recognisable on the lanes with his powerful style of play and his ever-cheerful disposition.

The youngest child of Khoo Hean Seah and Ooi Ai Ngoh was touted by many as one of the youth bowlers to watch out for. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is another great reading material I believe would be of interest to many of you.

Depending on to whom you talk with, whether a coach, player, sports agent, or parent, you will hear that the mental component of sports performance ranges from having as little as 10% significance to as great as 90% of the performance curve.

Measuring success is a difficult task because achieving exactness in performance is quite challenging. However, if even the smallest percentage of one’s performance can be attributed to mental preparation one would think an athlete might consider implementing a mental game strategy to achieve that extra edge.

There are a number of techniques an athlete has at his disposal to strengthen the mental aspect of his performance. This article will introduce two of the more popular methodologies for improving one’s mental game. The best technique is the one that helps the athlete achieve the performance levels he aspires to. Should you require any further information or wish to learn more about how to implement any one of these strategies, please email john@protexsports.com.

=== Imagery ===

Imagery in sport is essentially the re-creation of an experience that resembles the actual physical experience without actually performing the physical execution of the skill. The re-creation and sensory feeling of skill execution can be accomplished through verbal rehearsal (repeating out loud the individual task elements associated with execution of a skill), or by creating vivid sensory specific images of each element or step associated with execution of the skill.
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Courtesy of  STARSPORTS/RAJES PAUL

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia produced yet another young bowling world champion when Jacqueline Jenelee Sijore defied the odds to win the women’s singles gold in awesome fashion at the Women’s World Championships in Hong Kong yesterday.

The 19-year-old debutant kept her cool despite a jittery start to beat hot favourite Son Yun-hee of South Korea 266-217 in the final to become the country’s second women’s singles champion.

Esther Cheah became the first and youngest world champion when she took the gold medal in the same event at the age of 17 in 2007 at Aalborg, Denmark.

Golden girl: Jacqueline Jenelee Sijore posing with her singles gold medal at the Women’s World Championships in Hong Kong

Jacqueline made it to the elimination round by virtue of finishing fourth – with her high score of 1,486 pins – in the 171-field after the completion of the six-game qualifying round which was held over three squads.
Read the rest of this entry »

Bowling pins are the targets that are to be aimed at, hit, and knocked down in the game of tenpin bowling. It would be of interest to a potential bowler to know a little bit about them, whether the person is playing ten-pin bowling or five-pin bowling.

The commonly used bowling pins are 4.75 inches in width and stand 15 inches in height. Their standard weight is 3lb. 6oz. but there are also pins that are now allowed (beginning in 1998) that weigh 3lb. and 10oz.

Bowling pins are made by gluing blocks of hard maple wood together. Makers of bowling pins use these blocks to create the pin shape by using a lathe. The formed shape will then be coated with hard layers of plastic material and are painted white to produce a finished product that is shiny and pleasing to the eye.

The ABC (American Bowling Congress) is an institution that specifies how the pins are to be made - according to their set standards. They are also the one responsible for checking the bowling alleys and the bowling lanes for compliance. Some venues may not have strict regulations or enforcement of pin shapes and sizes or the pin setting machine. These irregularities (if any) would affect every delivery of the ball as well as the scoring. Read the rest of this entry »