MTBC laud Tun Ameerul's sacrifice after historic PBA win in Nevada

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) have praised Tun Ameerul Luqman Al-Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam for paying his own way to compete in the United States and making history by becoming the first Malaysian to win a title at the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour in Reno, Nevada yesterday.

MTBC secretary-general Maradona Chok said that, for the past two years, they have not provided any sponsorship to national bowlers to compete in the PBA and Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) due to several factors that had been mutually agreed upon.

“(Firstly) The PBA and PBWA are professional tours, and secondly, sending a team of around 20 players would be very costly. So, the agreement between the MTBC and the National Sports Council (NSC) is that we are limited to competing as a team in Asia.

“So, the programme with the NSC is solely in Asia, and for anything outside of Asia, the MTBC have been allowed to permit players to compete on their own,” he told reporters when met at the Sunway Megalanes here today.

Meanwhile, MTBC president Datuk Mohd Najeeb Abdullah said they would review the sponsorship given by the Youth and Sports Ministry through the NSC to help or sponsor bowlers for future tournaments.

This, Mohd Najeeb feels is because the PBW and PWBA tournaments are the best platform for national bowlers to face tough competition and gain valuable exposure as many of the world’s top stars usually compete in these events.

“These tournaments offer stronger competition because all the best players are there. So, I think that in the future, our team will consider (competing) if there are sponsors and not just rely on the NSC… but we must also look for sponsors.

“For example, before going to the PBA, I had the chance to meet Tun Ameerul and his teammates and they each forked out over RM30,000 to stay there (in the US) for nearly a month,” he said.

Tun Ameerul, 25, was crowned the PBA Chameleon champion after defeating American Kevin McCune 269-227 in the stepladder final at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada.