| Fadhil Yunus |
THE Chief Executive Officer of World Bowls Gary Smith has commended the accomplishments of national lawn bowls players Amalia Matali and Rahman Omar following their standout performances in the prestigious World Singles Champion of Champions at Club Helensvale in Gold Coast, Australia.
The World Singles Champions of Champions is an important event in the World Bowls calendar whereby participants is made up of national titleholders in the singles’ discipline.
“World Bowls warmly applauds Amalia Matali and Rahman Omar for winning a silver and bronze medal respectively in the 2016 World Singles Champion of Champions held in November at Club Helensvale, Gold Coast, Australia and the honour they have brought to Brunei,” said Smith.
“The outstanding achievements of these two great ambassadors of our sport of lawn bowls is remarkable bearing in mind that Brunei is one of our smallest member nations currently having only 45 registered members,” he added.
The sport of lawn bowls is a core sport within the Commonwealth Games playing programme and the World Bowls is also in a process of seeking recognition for the sport of lawn bowls by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Amalia Matali in action during the World Singles Champion of Champions at Christchurch, New Zealand recently.
“These two athletes have proven that Brunei can compete at the highest international levels of our great sport.”
Even though most of Amalia’s group games have been decided by tight margins, her achievements have been remarkable after defeating Commonwealth women’s triples gold medallist Sophie Tolchard and former world champion Carmen Anderson en route to meeting Natasha Scott in the final.
The chief executive officer expressed his hopes that the pair’s accomplishments at international level will receive recognition which will subsequently act as a catalyst to develop greater participation in the sport in Brunei, talent identification, player pathways and a high performance coaching programme.
“World Bowls certainly looks forward to playing its part in assisting in these areas and to welcoming Brunei competitors at our future international events,” he concluded.
The national pair has also garnered attention from international media as a true underdog story after a series of excellent results against world class opposition.
Amalia and Rahman made headlines for putting Brunei in the map and have left a mark in the world bowls community.
The pair was featured in Inside Bowls, a magazine dedicated for world bowls, with Rahman mentioned as the only competitor who defeated eventual men’s singles winner Scott Thulborn.
Amalia’s coach Haji Abdul Ghafar bin Pehin Orang Kaya Laksamana Dato Seri Setia Haji Mohd Taha has hailed the mental toughness of his pupil after guiding her towards accomplishing silver in the world event.
“Since starting training few months ago before making our journey to Gold Coast, Amal has shown a steady rise in performance even though still at a modest level. I find what is outstanding with Amal is her mental toughness,” he said.
“Amal is one of the players in Brunei that possess a high level of mental toughness which is clear to see in the Champion of Champions. A lot of matches she faced were when she appeared to be in a critical stage so through mental toughness she maintained a good performance.”
Haji Abdul Ghafar said that key to Amal’s success other than her training is mental toughness especially after facing world class opposition.
The coach, who was a former national player in the 1990s, pointed that Rahman was another player who possess high levels of mental toughness.
“What is outstanding with Rahman is his initiative of attending training. He does not wait being summoned for training and will be training on his own,” he continued.
Brunei Darussalam national lawn bowls team best achievements included silver in the women’s fours in the 2009 Asia Pacific Championships while the men’s singles advanced to the playoffs in the World Singles Champion of Champions in 2011.
The national team secured a mixed pairs bronze in the 2015 Asia Pacific Indoor Championships before reaching the playoffs in the women’s singles and the men’s triples in the Asia Pacific Championships in the same year which ultimately helped them qualify to the World Bowls in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The prestigious World Singles Champion of Champions will move to St Johns Park Bowling Park, New South Wales in 2017 and 2018.
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