Dayangku Nurul Nabilah Pg Mohd Salleh (L) and Pengiran Mohd Salleh Chuchu (R) pose with thier trophies and medal after being presented as champions of the Tan Sri P Ramlee Mixed Pairs Lawn Bowls Championship in Kuching, Sarawak last week. Courtesy of Tony Scott
Despite terrible green conditions and facing a Malysian Games (SUKMA) gold medal team, the Brunei lawn bowls 'Touchers' team were crowned champions after beating host state Sarawak 15-13 at the Tan Sri P Ramlee Mixed Pairs Lawn Bowls Championship in Kuching.
"The playing green at the Sarawak Stadium Complex was in really bad condition. It was like playing on a minefield," said national lawn bowls coach Tony Scott in a phone interview with The Brunei Times yesterday. "When they bowled some would just change direction due to a bad pothole or a bump."
The three-day championship was participated by Brunei, Sarawak, Selangor, Kedah and Negeri Sembilan. The Brunei championship team were represented by the father-daughter pair of Pengiran Mohd Salleh Chuchu and Dayangku Nurul Nabilah Pg Mohd Salleh.
They went home with the challenge trophy, a cash prize of RM1200, and a trophy and watch each. Scott attributed Brunei's enormous win during the June 16-18 competition to their regular training programmes and their ability to adapt to difficult situations.
"I would have to say that because of their training, they managed to stay focused and stick with the game plan we agreed on," said the Australian. "The standard of lawn bowls will keep going up considering how the game is being played seriously and regularly now and our victory in Kuching proved that fact," he said.
The next tournament that they will be focusing on after Hari Raya is the 10th Asian Lawn Bowls Championships in Henan, China on October 11-20.
Brunei also plans to send a junior team to participate in the World Junior Championships in Queensland, Australia on the November 10 - 16. The team and coaching staff will be taking a break due to Ramadhan and will return to regular training on July 7.
