'My time is now' - Nur Syazwani

PETALING JAYA: "Perhaps this is my time to shine,"

After clinching the world youth championship title in Detroit, United States in 2018, promising national women's keggler, Nur Syazwani Sahar is raring to 'strike' again in the International Bowling Federation (IBF) Super World Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from Nov 4-16.

Even thought it will be her debut in the world championship, the 22-year-old bowler appears unnerved and confident of making the nation proud yet again.

"I am excited because I have been dreaming to compete in the world championship for such a long time so I think this is the right time for me to prove myself," she told a press conference here, today.

Nur Syazwani said that the preparations ahead of the world meet were well underway and believed that it will help her and other teammates to perform their best in Dubai.

Out of seven bowlers in women's squad, four of them including Nur Syazwani, are first timers in the world championship.

Meanwhile, men's singles defending champion Muhammad Rafiq Ismail, has only set his sights to be in the top 10 due to the fact that this will be his first competitive action after he last got the ball rolling in 2019 SEA Games in Manila, Philippines.

Muhammad Rafiq admitted that keglers from USA, Japan, South Korea, Sweden and Canada will pose a greater threat to him to knock down another gold in the next tournament.

In the meantime, Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress president Datuk Dr P.S. Nathan said a total of 15 bowlers comprising eight for the men's squad and seven for the women's will be vying for the world title in Dubai.

However, a tricky journey lies ahead for the women's team as they'll be competing without two senior bowlers, namely Esther Cheah due to knee injury and Sin Li Jane due to personal reasons.

"We have a seasoned men's team while two of our best bowlers in the women's squad would not be available for the Dubai meet. Despite no international competitions, I can see that they have been training hard and our director of coaching Holloway Cheah has been preparing them well. I hope they will deliver medals there," he said.

Earlier, Nathan had witnessed a simple mock cheque handover event from MTBC's long time partner, CJ Century Logistics Holdings Berhad, as they contributed a cash sponsorship in support of MTBC's full programme of events at all levels for 2021/2022.

Final line-up for the upcoming IBF Super World Championships 2021 in Dubai, UAE:

Men's squad

1. Tun Ameerul Luqman Al-Hakim

2. Timmy Tan Chye Chern

3. Muhammad Rafiq Ismail

4. Ahmad Muaz Mohd Fishol

5. Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malik

6. Muhammad Hafiz Zainuddin

7. Muhammad Syazirol Shamsuddin

8. Nevern Netaneel Marcellinus

Women's squad

1. Natasha Mohamed Roslan

2. Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman

3. Gillian Lim Siew Giok

4. Nur Syazwani Sahar

5. Nora Lyana Nastasia Norkamal

6. Nerosha Keligit Thiagarajan

7. Faten Najihah Ahmad Faik

-- BERNAMA