KUALA LUMPUR – While everyone is busy celebrating Aidilfitri with their families and loved ones, the national lawn bowls team have been training vigorously to bring Malaysia glory in the coming World Indoor Bowls Championship, set to take place in Guernsey.
Over 30 countries have qualified to play in this year’s championship, which will kick off on April 21 and last till April 27.
Speaking to Scoop, Malaysia head coach Zuraidi Puteh said it had been the norm for his athletes to miss Raya celebrations, citing it as a sacrifice they had to make to bring the nation glory.
“Training for the championship began on April 2 and will continue until we depart for Guernsey on the 17th.
“This is not the first time we have had to sacrifice our training during Raya; there have been several tournaments in the past over the years, such as the Asia Pacific Bowls Championships, where we, as a team, had to sacrifice our Raya celebration for the country.
“Sometimes we coaches also feel bad for making our athletes suffer during Raya, but we don’t have a choice as the tournaments always tend to clash with the Raya festival,” said Zuraidi when contacted.
At the same time, Zuraidi also said that he admired his athletes’ mental strength and their focus in training without getting distracted by other matters aside from getting the best out of their game.
“There has never been a time when our athletes felt like leaving the national camp and spending time with their family during Raya, as we always keep the camp very lively during Raya.
“We will always ensure that they feel at home in the camp, where we will usually have a good meal after training, and we always make sure that we are united in situations like this without leaving anyone alone.
“I’m so proud of my athletes as they have never been distracted by anything and always stay focused on their game. We are still going strong even though we are not in the full Podium Programme. Nothing can shatter our spirit, even if we miss our Raya celebrations,” Zuraidi added.
For context, the exclusion of lawn bowlers by the National Sports Council was attributed to their failure to meet targets at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
After more than a year of absence from any podium programme, national lawn bowlers were recently granted inclusion in a temporary initiative.
According to the World Bowls rankings, Malaysia’s men’s team are ranked fourth out of 65 countries, while the women’s team rank fifth.
Under Zuraidi’s tutelage, Nur Ain Nabilah Tarmizi and Aleena Ahmad Nawawi made history by securing the country’s first women’s gold at the World Outdoor Championship last year since the inception of the women’s pairs event in 1969. – April 11, 2024
